Verisimilitude
by Lihau
Summary: Three teenaged Sohmas take it upon themselves to assist their younger cousins. Somewhat of an AU. Rated for safety. R&R! Chapter 29 up! Finally!
1. To the Rescue

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**One: To the Rescue**

"I have an idea."

The four words that had started all this. And they'd come from Hatori Sohma, of all people, so how terrible could this be?

Ayame Sohma tripped over an exposed tree root and fell to the ground. He cried, "Oww, Ha'ri, I think I broke my foot!"

Hatori, being the future doctor, turned around and squatted down to examine the wound. A (quite explicably) annoyed expression crossed his face as he glanced up, stating disgustedly, "You stubbed your big toe."

"Oh, but it hurts! IT HURTS!" Ayame cried dramatically.

Shigure Sohma gasped and dropped to his knees, clapping a hand over the silver-haired teen's mouth. "Shh, Aya! If we get caught, we're dead! Tori," he continued, looking at the solemn youth, "how come you had to think of this _now_? At two in the morning. In a bloomin' hurricane!"

Hatori's olive green eyes snapped over to Shigure as he hissed, "A, I've been thinking about it a long time. B, because we can't do it in broad daylight. C, since when do you speak like an Englishman?"

"I was speaking jocularly," Shigure stated, turning his nose upward.

"Still think you can be a writer, eh?" Hatori said with a soft, and slightly derisive, laugh.

"As a matter of fact—yes," replied Shigure, somewhat indignantly.

"Let's just go," Hatori ordered, he and Shigure standing up simultaneously. "Get up, Ayame."

"How rude, Ha'ri!" Ayame protested. "Not even offering a helping hand! Oh, woe is me!"

"Woe _will_ be you if you don't shut up and come on," Hatori told him, rather a bit threateningly. "We have to be out of here by five."

"We have three glorious hours to dilly-dally," pointed out Ayame, finally standing. "Why not dilly for an hour, dally for another, and _then_ do it?"

"Are you turning chicken?" Hatori demanded, narrowing his eyes accusingly.

"Chicken? Moi? Swan, perhaps, but _never_ chicken!"

Hatori emitted a low, disgusted, growl-like sound before grabbing both of his cousins by the arm and dragging them along. After a few minutes, he let them walk on their own.

"I really don't like this, Ha'ri," Shigure commented, looking around the forest warily. "This is… this is kidnapping!"

"No," Hatori objected, "it's _un_-kidnapping."

"Yes!" agreed Ayame. "We are going to rescue our little cousin! How heroic! How courageous—how _marvelous_ of us to do this! Fear not, young one, Cousin Aya is here to save you!"

"Aya, for you it's not a _cousin_ we're helping," Hatori said. "Remember?"

"Hm? Oh, yes! My darling little brother! I…." Ayame stopped walking and looked down sadly.

Stopping reluctantly and turning around, Hatori asked, "What?"

"…I wonder if he remembers me at all," whispered Ayame. "I mean, I don't exactly visit him every day. Not like you, Ha'ri."

"Ayame," Hatori replied, "do you know _why_ I visit him?"

"No," Shigure piped up, answering for the other teenager.

"Because Akito knows that I've always been training to be a doctor. And he's given me permission to come by once a week to…" Hatori trailed off. "We have to hurry. Let's move."

A few minutes later, they were jogging through a grove of cherry trees.

"Good," Hatori breathed, trying not to sound out of breath. "We're getting closer."

"Look at all the beautiful sakura trees," Ayame cried, slowing to a standstill and clasping his hands together.

The cherry blossoms, weakened by the torrential rain, showered down on them. Shigure, too, could not resist stopping to admire the flowers. Hatori, about ready to pull his hair out in frustration, made a U-turn to drag the other two forward.

Hair now dotted with pink blossoms, Ayame sighed indulgently, "I have a new, better name for our three-man club, Gure-san!"

"What, Aya?" Shigure responded blissfully.

"The Super Handsome Blossom Trio!"

"Oh, Aya!" exclaimed Shigure. "A perfect name!"

The moment was ruined when Hatori grabbed each teen forcefully by the hair and physically yanked them away from the trees.

"There it is," Hatori announced soon enough, as they squatted or knelt down behind a large hedge. "The Main House."

"I don't like this," Shigure remarked for the umpteenth time. "It's like we're betraying Akito."

"_Like_?" Hatori echoed, casting a determined gaze on his cousin. "Shigure. We _are_ betraying Akito."

Shigure's eyes doubled in size at Hatori's bold statement.

_Akito must know_, a loyal little voice told Shigure's mind. _He must know that Hatori and Ayame have turned their backs on him._

_But_, Shigure replied silently, _I have, too._

_You don't have to say that_, Loyalty insisted. _Then again, then you'll be betraying _two_ people—Tori and Aya. So what's better, Shigure? Betraying one person or two?_

Shigure looked up to find both of his cousins staring curiously at him. Then he knew his answer.

_One._

"Are you holding up alright?" Hatori whispered.

"Yeah, sure, great, why?" Shigure rushed at once.

Ayame explained, "You were spacing out over Siberia, Gure! Oh, dear, what _ails_ you?"

Looking out between the branches of the hedge, Hatori said without looking at his companions, "This is all wrong. I shouldn't've dragged you both into this 'mission'. I shouldn't've even _told_ you, actually. I didn't give you any choice, either."

Shigure and Ayame glanced at each other.

"So here it is," Hatori continued, eyes still fixed on the Main House. "Your first and last chance to back out, no questions asked. Just go. And I won't blame you one bit."

After a brief, silent conference with Ayame, Shigure asked, "Go? Go where?"

Hatori almost smiled.

"Yes, where, indeed?" Ayame added for good measure. "We must off to my baby brother's rescue!"

Allowing a tiny smile to curve his mouth, Hatori nodded quietly. The pair wasn't exactly the Special Assault Team, but they'd do the job…

Looking over at them, he frowned. Shigure was trying to cross all of his fingers at once, and Ayame was braiding his long hair.

…Hopefully.


	2. The Rescue

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Two: The Rescue**

"How come this is creepier than all our other 'missions' combined?" Shigure whispered.

"This is the Main House," Hatori reminded him.

"…Never mind."

"Where is my darling brother?" Ayame asked, for once speaking quietly.

"And where the heck are we gonna keep him?" Shigure hissed. "We're outta beds!"

"Shh," Hatori ordered. "And he can sleep with Aya."

"Me? Why me?"

"A, he's your brother. B, why not? I thought you were so gung-ho about rescuing him."

"Yeah, but—and that reminds me," Ayame changed the subject. "Why does he need rescuing?"

Hatori and Shigure stared at him.

"What?"

"You mean…" Shigure began. "You don't know?"

"Know? Know what? Isn't it just like Hatsuharu? He got lost somehow?"

Hatori shook his head. "You two seriously need to get to know each other."

"Brotherly bonding, if you will," Shigure put in for good measure.

"I'm sure the little one will be thrilled to bits to do so," Ayame stated confidently. "What with being so honored as to be my brother—"

"Can we just grab the kid and _go_ already?" Shigure asked. "This place always creeps me out, 'specially at night."

"Technically, it's morning," Hatori pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever. Still creepy."

"I have an idea—let's just all shut up."

Shigure let out a long-suffering sigh. "I have an idea" had been the four words that Hatori had announced for the first time almost a year ago. Since then, they had taken in Kyo, a young wanderer of the streets; Haru, a lost little kid with the weirdest personality; and Momiji, an overenthusiastic energy ball.

Ever since Hatori had been given permission to move into his own apartment across from his parents', the serious young student had been seeking out and taking in young, helpless members of the Jyuunishi. The apartment was small, however, and caring for the youngsters was no easy task.

Thinking back to last morning, Shigure could easily recall ten near-disasters, all of which had happened in a three-minute time span. How Hatori had managed to recruit Ayame and Shigure into the Ultimate Babysitting Challenge, he would never know.

Hatori, briefly putting a finger to his lips, then pointed to a door and whispered, "Yuki." He slowly slid the door open and crept inside, closely followed by Shigure and Ayame.

Ayame had to ram a fist into his own mouth to stifle a horrified cry at the sight of his brother.

The excessively thin six-year-old, dressed in a faded and torn gray yukata, was curled up into a little ball in the corner. A few long, thin tears on the yukata's back revealed red whip wounds, and a mass of hair at the back of his head was soaked with blood.

Instantly blaming himself for never coming to check on the boy, Ayame whirled around and all but flew out of the room. Shigure caught his arm, demanding where he thought he was going.

"I-I can't let him see me," Ayame blurted out. "Not after what pain I've caused him! I-I have to go!" Ayame broke free of Shigure's grasp and ran off.

Hatori scornfully watched Ayame's retreating back for a moment before turning back to Yuki. He knelt down in front of him, realizing that the kid was awake.

"Yuki," Hatori whispered. "Yuki, do you remember me?"

Yuki's frail hands shot up, clasping them protectively against his head. He whimpered a bit as Hatori gently touched his shoulder.

"Yuki, it's me, Hatori. It's alright," Hatori continued. "We're taking you out of here."

"W-w-we?" stuttered Yuki, not looking up.

"I'm here, too," Shigure explained.

"Yuki, this is Cousin Shigure. He's here to help you, too." Hatori carefully picked up Yuki, holding him lightly against his chest. "Take it easy—we're going home."

"H-home?" the little boy repeated, risking a peek at Hatori's face. He balled up his fists, clinging to the teenager's shirt.

"Your new home," Shigure said. "A little noisy, but much nicer than this. C'mon, Ha'ri, let's blow this Popsicle stand."

Rolling his eyes slightly, Hatori suggested sarcastically, "Maybe you should be a screenwriter instead of a novelist."

"I'm keeping my options open," Shigure informed him, giving a cocky grin.

"Yeah, right."

"Well, I am."

"Shut up."


	3. The Ultimate Babysitting Challenge

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Three: The Ultimate Babysitting Challenge**

"Who that?" Kyo demanded as Shigure, followed by Hatori, entered the apartment. The little orange-top tried very hard to not look overly concerned with the matter, but he was obviously bursting with curiosity.

As Hatori brought Yuki to the bathroom to get cleaned up, Shigure squatted down to talk with Kyo.

"Well, whatcha doin' up so early, Kyon-Kyon?" Shigure grinned, taking the small hands in his own.

"Don't call me that!" Kyo yelled, stamping his foot. "Who was that?!"

"Shh," hushed Shigure, picking up the six-year-old. "That's Yuki—he'll be living with us for a while."

"Why? An' how come you and Baka Ayame live with Hatori?"

"Don't call Aya stupid," Shigure lightly reprimanded. "And you know that we live here because it's fun to live on our own—rug-rats excluded."

Kyo pounded a tiny fist into Shigure's shoulder, earning a wince from the teen.

"Why's Yuki stayin' here?" Kyo asked.

_Little brat_, Shigure thought, plastering a smile to his face. "Well, he wasn't doing very well at his old house, so now he's gonna stay here. Does he have your permission?" he asked with mock solemnity.

"What zodiac animal's he?" Kyo wanted to know, as he was set down on his bed in the corner of the (very crowded) bedroom.

Without thinking, Shigure began to answer, "He's the—that doesn't matter, Kyo-chan. Just try to be nice?"

Kyo pouted for a minute. "…Maybe."

Shigure sighed in relief. In Kyo-speak, that "maybe" most likely meant "fine, I'll try—but not 'cause _you_ asked me to".

"That's good," Shigure smiled. "It's barely even five in the morning yet. Try to get some sleep."

"No!"

Shigure groaned. "No" generally meant "in your dreams, fly-brain".

"Sleep," Shigure ordered, putting a hand over Kyo's naturally red eyes. "I'll wake you up in an hour to meet Yuki."

"Who's Yuki?"

Wishing he could melt into the floor, Shigure turned around and demanded of the blond-haired little boy, "Since when have _you_ been awake?"

"I dunno! Who's Yuki?" Momiji smiled innocently, bouncing up and down on his bed.

"Someone who you'll meet in an hour. Go back to sleep. I'll see how Ha'ri's doing with Yuki."

Another head, fortunately the last in the room, popped up and wondered aloud, "Who's Yuki?"

Shigure felt a major headache coming on.

-

Half an hour later, Shigure could no longer hold off the group of young zodiacs. And that's why the quartet marched into the living/dining room at five-thirty a.m.

Hatori, sitting next to Yuki on the only couch, was quietly talking with his newest charge. He looked up upon hearing Shigure and three pairs of little feet padding into the room.

"Shigure? Why are they all awake?" Hatori demanded.

"…It's a long, sad story," Shigure sighed. "Seriously. You _don't_ wanna hear it." After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Think you can handle them for a while? I have to finish up a story I'm writing for school."

Hatori exhaled slowly, "Suuuure."

"Great—thanks!" smiled Shigure. "Well, I'm off to the library! Ta-ta, tots!"

"Just shut up and leave, -CENSORED- idiot," Kyo snapped.

"Kyo," Hatori said sternly. "That's a bad word. Never say that again. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah," Kyo grumbled.

"Well," Shigure grinned, "_you_ were the one who told him to expand his vocabulary."

"Shut up and go write," Hatori shot back.

"Tsk," Shigure pressed. "We aren't losing our temper, are we?"

"No, but if we do, we're going to find ourselves with our mouth nailed shut by a couple of carpet tacks."

…

"Bye!" Shigure exclaimed, grabbing his backpack and sprinting out of the apartment. The door slammed shut behind him.

"Ha!" Kyo exclaimed, climbing up onto the couch. "You showed _him_, the coward!"

Hatori tried not to smirk.

"Are you Yuki?" Momiji asked the stranger sitting next to his cousin.

Yuki nodded for a short moment before grabbing Hatori's sleeve and burying his face in his new caretaker's arm.

Kyo snorted. "Can't b'lieve you're scared of Momiji!"

Hatori gave Kyo a warning-look before saying to the three little boys, "This is Yuki, your cousin. He lives with us now."

"Hello, Yuki-chan!" Momiji cried out, jumping onto the couch. He hugged Yuki from behind. "Yup, you're a boy!"

Yuki buried his face further into Hatori's elbow.

"What's wrong with him?" Haru wanted to know. The black-and-white-haired five-year-old climbed up onto the couch, kneeling next to Momiji.

"…Nervous," was the answer Hatori decided on. No need to terrify the kids with bloody, tear-jerking stories, right? Unfortunately, Kyo saw through the reply.

"Nervous, my a—"

"Kyo…" Hatori cut him off sharply.

"—'partment?" Kyo finished.

"Thank you."

"Not welcome."

Somebody seriously needed to teach that kid some manners.

Oh, yeah.

_He_ seriously needed to teach that kid some manners.

"Where's Baka Ayame?" Kyo asked, moving to the arm of the sofa closest to Hatori.

"Kyo, don't call people 'baka'. It isn't nice. And I don't know where he is."

"I only call him 'baka' because he _is_ baka," Kyo announced.

"It still isn't nice. You three go back to your room; I want to talk to Yuki a little more. I'll be there in a minute to give you your baths."

"Okee-dokee!" Momiji sang, bouncing off to the bedroom. Haru followed quietly, and Kyo wandered around the room for a moment before finally joining his cousins.

-

_Creeeeeeak!_

The unexpected visitor cringed at the exceedingly loud noise that the door made. He hesitated, listening to the sounds in the apartment. Three young voices were talking in the bedroom. Someone was being bathed in the bathroom (where else, eh?).

He crept in, intending to grab a few things and then leave. Then, the unexpected…

"KYAAAAA!"


	4. NiiSan

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Four: Nii-san**

The visitor screamed as an orange-haired fury rammed into his stomach. Momiji and Haru were standing in the doorway of the bedroom, the former giggling uncontrollably and the latter emitting a few low snickers. Hatori rushed out of the bathroom, demanding what was going on.

"Ayame!" Hatori exclaimed. He recomposed himself quickly. "Where have you been?" he asked calmly.

"Kyon-Kyon—off—please?" Ayame pleaded breathlessly.

"Kyo, get off Ayame's stomach," ordered Hatori. Kyo pouted, but reluctantly obeyed, joining Momiji and Haru in the bedroom. Hatori used his foot to quietly shut the door behind them.

"I just came to get my things," Ayame, actually sounding serious, stated as he got to his feet.

"You're leaving," Hatori said, eyebrows elevating. "Why?"

"I can't live with Yuki," Ayame shook his head. His long hair swished from side to side. "I know that I'll feel guilty every time I see him. Who am I to call myself his brother?"

"Ayame, listen to me. It's not your fault," Hatori told him firmly. "You were never given the chance to—"

"No, but I could've _asked_ for the chance," insisted Ayame. "I'm just gonna grab my things and leave." He smiled. "Then I won't feel guilty, Yuki won't resent me, and we'll both live wonderful, prosperous lives! Oh, the joy of _bringing_ joy to him!"

Ayame bustled to the corner of the living/dining room—his personal space—and gathered up his sleeping bag and personal items.

"Wish the little darling a happy life, Ha'ri!" Ayame sang out, just before leaving the apartment for the last time.

"Ayame," Hatori called after him. He sighed when the other teenager didn't stop. It looked like he'd have to talk to Ayame later. After all, he couldn't very well leave four little kids alone.

"Hatori-sensei?" a small voice asked respectfully.

Hatori turned around to see Yuki, dripping wet and a towel wrapped around him, standing in the bathroom doorway.

"You, there. Get back in the tub," Hatori ordered, trying not to sound too threatening. He shooed Yuki back into the bathtub before saying, "What was it you wanted, now?"

"W-who was that?"

"That was Ayame. I'll get him to return soon, then you can meet him," Hatori replied, scrubbing Yuki's almost-certainly scarred back carefully.

Yuki winced a bit and asked, "Is he my cousin, too?"

"No," answered Hatori. "He isn't your cousin. Ayame is your brother."

Yuki turned his violet eyes away, staring in the general direction of the apartment's exit. He reached out a small hand, whispering, "Nii-san?"


	5. Baths and Breakfast

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Five: Baths and Breakfast**

Three baths had been completed—the only one left was Kyo. Who was, shall we say, being a problem child at the moment.

"NO!" screamed Kyo, running around to the other side of the bedroom and ducking under his cot. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!"

"Quiet down," Hatori hushed. "You'll wake up the whole building."

"DON'T CARE!"

Plan A was now officially a flop. Time for Plan B.

Hatori sighed in resignation and folded his arms over his chest. "Fine then. But do you know what will happen if you don't get cleaned up soon?"

No reply.

"You'll get dirtier and dirtier. Your ears will be clogged with dirt, so you won't be able to hear. Your eyes will be so caked with mud that you won't be able to see. All your teeth will rot and fall out of your head. Due to a lack of brushing, your hair will be messy, dirty, and very heavy. Therefore, it will be _so_ heavy that it'll fall right… off… your… neck."

Kyo bolted out from under the bed and sprinted into the bathroom. Hatori gave himself the figurative pat on the back and followed the youngster.

"Ewww!" Momiji squealed, sitting on the floor and grabbing his feet. "Tha's so gross! I'm happy I got clean!"

"You're always happy," Haru pointed out.

"Oh… yeah!" giggled Momiji. He suddenly jumped to his feet and scurried over to Yuki, who was sitting and hugging his knees to his chest in a corner.

"Yun-Yun!" Momiji exclaimed. "Why don'tcha talk to us?"

Yuki flinched and inched further into the corner.

"Maybe you're scaring him," suggested Haru, shuffling towards them on his knees. He knelt down about two feet away from them, resting back on his heels.

"But I'm not scary!" protested the blond little boy. He turned back to Yuki. "Maybe are you hungry?"

Not being able to properly pronounce his R's yet, the last word sounded more like 'hung-we'.

"If you're hungry," Momiji continued, "we're gonna have breakfast after Kyo's got clean. Hatori isn't a good cook, but it isn't _too_ yucky."

"'Cept for oatmeal mush one time," Haru put in his two cents.

"Ewww!" the two five-year-olds chorused.

Momiji informed Yuki, "Hatori put-ed in too much water, so it was all icky and mushy and yuuuck!"

"Tasted like puke," Haru muttered, clarifying the matter.

"EWWW!" Momiji shrieked, covering his ears.

"What are you two doing to Yuki?" Hatori's voice demanded.

"Nothing!" Momiji and Haru replied innocently.

"Keep it that way. I'll get breakfast in a few minutes."

"'Kay!" shouted Momiji. "I mean, yes! Alright! Sure!"

Hatori was trying to teach his younger cousins good grammar early in life. Meaning that "'Kay!" was not an option.

Haru, feeling a bit rebellious that morning, mumbled under his breath, "'Kay."

"Haru…" Hatori's warning came.

The three cousins stared in the direction of the bathroom. How could Hatori _possibly_ have heard that? It boggled the imagination. Haru shook his head slowly—Hatori was a force to be reckoned with.

-

Breakfast that morning consisted of cold cereal and a glass of milk each. The milk, as always, was to be drunk (drank?) down to the last drop. Kyo had no problem with this, of course, but Haru was still in a mutinous state of mind.

"Haru," Hatori said, looking up from his own breakfast, "finish your milk."

"No."

"If you don't, your bones will be weak. You want to be strong, right?"

"Not drinking it."

"Why?" Kyo demanded. "Scared? Scared of milk?"

Haru poked at Kyo's arm with his spoon.

"Stop!" hollered Kyo. "Or I'll dump the rest of my Cheerios on you! Dummy!"

Haru stared down into his lap, fists slowly clenching.

"Idiot!"

"Kyo, be quiet," Hatori ordered the orange-haired boy.

Eyes still glaring at Haru, he continued, "Numbskull!"

"Shut up," hissed Haru, barely loud enough to be heard at all.

"Whaddya say?"

"I said, 'SHUT UP'!" Haru yelled, lunging over and grabbing Kyo by his shirt collar. Milk and cereal spilled all over.

Kyo and Haru proceeded to insult/fight each other until Hatori stood up and slammed a fist down on the table. The pair froze. It was a bad time to stop moving, however, because Kyo currently had Haru in a suffocating headlock.

"Kyo, let go of him," Hatori began.

Kyo let go.

"Both of you, stand up."

They both stood up.

"Apologize."

"No way!" Kyo shouted, flinging back a fist and accidentally catching Haru in the jaw, sending the white-and-black-haired boy sprawling to the floor.

Hatori quickly knelt down next to the victim and helped him to sit up.

"Wha happen?" Haru slurred, slightly dazed.

"Weirdness again," Hatori said by way of an explanation. That was his temporary name for Haru's sudden and oftentimes violent outbursts—'Weirdness'.

"Yeah," Kyo put in, helpfully. "Whatsamatter with you?"

"Kyo," admonished the teenager, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't pick on Haru until we could figure out whether or not he fights you on purpose."

"_You_ agreed," Kyo shot back. "_I_ didn't!"

Meanwhile, Yuki, still sitting at the table, was looking around with a "what the heck…?" expression on his face.

Momiji, who'd been alternately giggling and screaming throughout the whole fight, explained to his violet-eyed cousin, "Haru is weird when someone makes him mad, 'specially mostly Kyo. They fight and Ha'ri stops 'em. Then Haru is un-weird and don't know wha happened."

"'Doesn't'," Hatori automatically corrected, setting Haru back down in his chair.


	6. The New Babysitter

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Six: The New Babysitter**

Breakfast finished soon after that and, letting his younger cousins play in their room for the moment, Hatori quickly set up their school assignments. Because he didn't want them to have to worry about attending school until they could properly avoid transforming, he was temporarily home schooling them.

Noting that there were only three work folders but four students, Hatori muttered something under his breath and quickly printed out another few simple worksheets from his computer, setting it to the side and writing 'Yuki' at the top of the first page.

Hatori glanced at his watch and uttered a mild expletive—he was _beyond_ being 'late' to school. Well, he'd just have to skip homeroom this one time. And where was that stupid babysitter?

Someone knocked on the door and Hatori, quickly falling into a bad mood, grumbled, "'Bout time, -CENSORED- man."

He flung open the door and stared at the woman in front of him.

"Hi, are you Hatori Sohma-san?" she smiled pleasantly.

"Who are you?" Hatori demanded, completely forgetting his manners in his moment of fury. "Where's Masuko-san?" Yujiro Masuko was the usual babysitter.

"I'm Kyoko Honda," she introduced herself, bowing slightly. Kyoko had apparently decided to overlook Hatori's rudeness for the time being. "Masuko-san, I regret to say, has passed on."

"But—how? He wasn't _that_ old."

"He was hit by a car," Kyoko explained. "I was sent here to take his place."

Hatori covered his eyes with his right hand.

Great.

Now did he not only have to explain the basic schedule for all four kids, but the new babysitter was a woman. Not that he had anything against females, but he'd have to give explicit instructions to _not_ come into close contact with the boys.

"May you find peace, Masuko-san," Hatori gave a brief, obligatory prayer. "Come in, Honda-san."

"Thank you. Where are the children?" Kyoko asked, entering the apartment and sitting down when she was invited to. "I understand there are three?"

Hatori, not taking a seat, stood in front of Kyoko. He was clearly all-business.

"I'm going to try to make this short," Hatori started. "You can take notes if you like, but please save questions for after I finish speaking. First, there are now four kids. Kyo, Haru, Momiji, and Yuki. They're in the bedroom.

"Kyo is the one with orange hair. He's very temperamental. His lunch is usually a tuna sandwich and a glass of milk. Use the can of tuna in the cabinet next to the fridge. White bread. Put the milk in the orange plastic cup. _Never_ try to give him leeks. I'm not responsible for his actions if you do."

Kyoko raised an eyebrow, but remained politely silent.

"Kyo's schoolwork is in the orange folder. Make sure he stays focused. No bribing him with snacks or little paper cranes the way my idiot cousins do, but that's beside the point and now I've lost _my_ focus."

Hatori paused and tapped his foot a few times, trying to regain his concentration. He began pacing back and forth in front of her.

"Okay. Haru is the one with white and black hair, don't ask. Never try to joke with him, or things may get ugly if you say the wrong thing at the wrong time. He needs more Vitamin D in his diet, so give him a scrambled egg sandwich. Put in _one_ slice of cheese and use oil, not butter, no matter what he says.

"To drink, milk. He didn't drink it all this morning. Use the black plastic cup, it's near the orange one. All cups are in the cabinet above the sink. Haru's schoolwork is in the black and white striped folder. Help him with his subtraction. Give him a ten minute break if he gets too frustrated."

Hatori glanced at Kyoko and asked, "Getting all this?"

Kyoko looked up from her note taking and nodded.

"Good. Momiji is the blond one. He's very energetic, but try to keep him as calm as is humanly possible, if not calmer. He needs more Vitamin C. Citrus fruits. Put in some grapefruit, oranges, and some grapes. Make sure everything is seedless or he'll start spitting seeds at you."

Kyoko chuckled.

"What?"

She smiled and shook her head.

Hatori silently scrutinized her for a moment longer before proceeding.

"Give him apple juice in the sunny yellow cup, Lord knows why he likes the thing."

Kyoko bit back a grin.

"I think Momiji might have ADHD, so make him study for only fifteen minutes at a time—trying to force him does _not_ work. Five minute breaks in between until he's done. Help him with grammar, correct any mistakes he makes _immediately_. Don't let it slide under any circumstances."

Kyoko nodded.

"Yuki… his work is next to the others'. He doesn't have a folder yet. For lunch, I think a… a cheese sandwich on white bread seems safe. Glass of apple juice. Use one of the clear cups next to the colored ones, but only fill it half-way. He's new here, so keep a close watch on him and let me know if anything in specific seems to upset him."

Another nod from the babysitter.

"Now, the basics. Lunch at noon. Give them forty-five minutes to eat and relax. If they aren't finished their schoolwork by one forty-five, let them stop anyway because they need naps. We had a busy night.

"Oh, and something very important. _Never hug them_. Do _not_ hold them close. Hold their hands. Pat their heads. Pick them up at arms' length if you absolutely have to. But _never hug them_. Do I make myself _perfectly clear_?" Hatori demanded emphatically.

"Yes," Kyoko nodded.

"Fine, then. If a lunatic with long silver hair or a pervert with short black hair comes by, ask for their names _before_ beaning them with a frying pan. The silver-haired one should be Ayame Sohma, and the black-haired one should be Shigure Sohma. They are my cousins and they are idiots, but they are generally harmless.

"Tell Shigure to shut up and study, and, if Ayame comes by, tell him to sit down and _stay there_ until I come back. Got it?"

Kyoko replied in the affirmative.

"Good. My cell phone number is on the fridge. Only call me in an _absolute emergency_. Any questions?" The look Hatori sent Kyoko screamed 'please no questions!'.

"…A few."

Hatori held back a sigh and asked shortly, "What?"

"When should they start studying?"

"Soon as I leave."

"Why can't I hug them?"

"Personal reasons," Hatori said crisply. "Even if they _ask_ to be hugged, _don't_."

"But… why?"

"It's really none of your business. Anything else?"

Kyoko shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Good…." Hatori glanced at his wristwatch and, trying desperately not to curse, dashed around the room, gathering up his school things and breathing, "Shoot-shoot-shoot, dangit, crud… -CENSORED-."

"Late for work?"

"Worse—school," Hatori said quickly, slinging his backpack over his right shoulder and holding a small briefcase in his left hand.

"I thought you looked kinda young," Kyoko smiled, standing up. "College or high school?"

"High—-CENSORED- it! You better do a good job," Hatori warned. Noting that she looked like a hugger, he flung over his shoulder, "And no hugging!" He ran out the door at a speed that could qualify him for the Olympics.


	7. The New Babysitter, Contd

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Seven: The New Babysitter, Contd.**

Kyoko chuckled to herself as she watched the strange young man rush off. Now. To meet the boys. She opened one door, but it turned out to be the bathroom.

_Well, it's good to know where it is…_

She closed that door and opened another. A little blond boy—girl? No… Sohma-san had only mentioned boys.

Anyway, a little blond _boy_ tumbled forward, bumping into her feet. He stood up quickly, giggling, and looked up into her face.

"Hiya!" he beamed happily. "I'm Momiji! Are you gonna 'sit us?"

"Yes, I am," Kyoko smiled back. "I'm Kyoko Honda."

"Honda-chan!" Momiji exclaimed, leaping up to hug her. Something held him back, however.

"Don't do that, idiot!" an orange-haired boy yelled, pulling him back into the bedroom.

"You must be Kyo," decided Kyoko.

"What's it to you?!"

"I'm your new babysitter," she stated.

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"Why don't you all come out here in the living room, anyway, and we can get to know one another," Kyoko suggested, planning to start them studying _after_ they were acquainted.

And so all four, some timidly, some boldly, followed her into the main living/dining room.

"Let me guess—you're Haru and you're Yuki?"

Haru and Yuki nodded silently.

"I'm Kyoko Honda."

Kyo, as a precaution, latched onto Momiji's arm to keep him from lunging into the woman's arms.

"Are you all related?"

"No duh," Kyo rolled his eyes. "We're cousins. Where's Masuko-san?"

"I'm afraid he won't be coming anymore," Kyoko said gently.

"Lemme guess—he kicked it."

Kyoko blinked at the little boy's careless 'guess'.

"Kicked what?" Momiji wondered innocently.

"The bucket."

"Oh… did it make a mess?"

"Maybe." He turned to Kyoko. "Was there lots of blood?"

…

"Well?"

"What bucket?" Momiji insisted.

Kyo hollered at him, "There wasn't any bucket, dum-dum! He's bought the farm! Popped off! Bit the big one! Gone to the big babysitting agency in the sky! Met his maker! Give-d up the ghost!"

Kyoko, who'd tried to interrupt several times, broke in with, "Given, not 'give-d'."

_Oh, wait—it was _Momiji's_ grammar that I was supposed to correct…_

"Whatever," Kyo grumped dismissively.

"Well," Kyoko announced brightly, "I think we've gotten to know one another enough for now. We'd better start studying."

"What'd ya _mean_ 'what bucket'?" Kyo hissed as they moved to the dining table. "Don't be stupid." He punched Momiji in the arm.

"WAAAH!" Momiji immediately screamed. "Honda-chan! Kyo's picking on me!"

"Shh, it's alright, Momiji," Kyoko hushed, squatting, holding his left hand and rubbing his right arm. She barely remembered not to hug him. "Let's just study, 'kay?"

"You aren't supposed to say that," Haru informed her. "Hatori says."

"What am I not supposed to say?" Kyoko asked.

"'Kay. It's bad grammar."

"Strict fellow," Kyoko murmured to herself.

"What's 'strict'?" Momiji wanted to know.

"What'd ya mean 'we'?" interjected Kyo, something suddenly registering in his mind. "_You_ aren't gonna study—only _us_! What, are you a path… patho… pathel…." Kyo struggled to remember that word Hatori sometimes muttered when referring to Ayame or Shigure.

"Pathological?" Yuki guessed meekly.

"Pathological liar?" Kyo finished. He turned back to Yuki. "How'd ya know that?"

"Um… Hatori says I've got a pathological fear of A—A… _him_."

"Him who?" Haru asked.

"Him who Hatori rescued Yuki from, that's who him who is," Momiji answered, smiling matter-of-factly.

Kyoko, feeling a bit dizzy after Momiji's garbled explanation, said, "Why don't you all get started on your schoolwork?"

"Who—I mean _why_?" Kyo quickly corrected himself.

"Because that's what Hatori said that you were supposed to do now," Kyoko stated. "Now, no more nonsense—let's get started."

As Kyoko set a worksheet in front of each of the little boys, now seated at the table, Kyo accused suspiciously, "I bet you don't even know what you're doing—I bet you never even _seen_ a kid before!"

"As a matter of fact," Kyoko returned, "I have a daughter, about your age."

"Girls are gross," snorted the orange-haired child.

"Cooties?" she smiled.

"No—'cause of what they _do_!"

"Oh?"

Momiji burst out, "They—"

Kyo slapped a hand over Momiji's mouth and yelled at Kyoko, "We ain't tellin'!"

_Maybe it was a bad idea to put Kyo and Momiji next to each other…_

"Both of you behave yourselves," scolded Kyoko lightly, giving them each a pencil. "And I can't believe Sohma-san has you doing this advanced work, already!"

Kyo boasted, "I know the zero and one times tables all the way up to twelve—but I really don't care what you think!"

"You've started multiplication?" Kyoko said. "How old are you?"

"I'm six. Problem?"

"No… but… six…"

_Geez…_


	8. The Return of Shigure

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Eight: The Return of Shigure**

After a long and torturous lunch, all four youngsters were finally napping in their room. Kyoko collapsed onto the couch, a bit tired out after an exhausting morning. Thank goodness her little Tohru wasn't nearly as troublesome!

In summary, Haru's "weirdness" had surfaced once, Kyo had tried to beat up Momiji twice, Momiji had tried (unsuccessfully) to hug her thrice, and Yuki had essentially tried to avoid contact with everyone the entire time.

Just as Kyoko was about to commence her own little nap, two things happened at once.

_Ring! Ring!_

"Ha'ri, I'm ho-ome!"

Kyoko jumped up and demanded of the young man who'd just burst into the apartment, "Who are you?"

"Shigure Sohma!" the teenager grinned cockily, making a sweeping and much exaggerated bow. "And who might this beautiful lady be? Have you broken into my apartment to seduce me?"

"Ohh! Shigure! Shut up and study." She added quickly, "Hatori-san's orders."

The answering machine of the phone picked up, and the caller said, "Hello? This is Hatori. Pick up! Hello? Hel—"

Kyoko scooped up the phone and exclaimed, "Sohma-san! I'm sorry; Shigure-san just barged in. And I _mean_ 'barged'."

"Did you tell him to shut up and study?"

"Word for word."

"Good. I forgot to tell you television privileges for the kids. Max of one hour a day. They can only watch shows rated 'Y' or 'G', unless I check it out first."

Please note that I have no idea of what television ratings system (if any) is used in Japan. I just stuck in a couple of ratings used in the U.S.

"Got it," Kyoko assured him. "They haven't watched any TV yet. They're napping right now. Unless Shigure-san woke them up."

"Good. Also, the computer is _off-limits_ to everyone over there—meaning Shigure, the kids, Ayame if he shows up, and you—unless I state otherwise. …Ah, and if Shigure disputes anything I have ever told you, _ignore him_."

"Will do."

"Always be tough with Shigure—it's the only way to…"

A few background voices could be heard from Hatori's end of the line.

"I have to go, Honda-san. I'll be late, but you can leave whenever you want to, now that Shigure is back. Unless he decides to leave again. In that case, I'll pay double for extra hours if you'd please stay with the kids. Or send someone else and sit with them until the other person arrives…"

More background voices.

"Yes, sir, I'm sorry, just a minute…. Everything's okay there, Honda-san?" Hatori rushed. "No problems?"

"Everything's under control," Kyoko assured him. _Now…_

"Good—great, gotta go—bye."

_Click_

Kyoko hung up the phone and watched as Shigure sat down in front of the computer sitting at the desk in the corner. He dumped his backpack on the floor next to himself.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Kyoko asked sharply, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Just gonna type up something for school," Shigure grinned, turning around in the chair to look at her. The glint in his eye said otherwise. "Tori okayed it. …Really, don't worry."

"Hatori-san told me that _no one_ was to use the computer," objected the babysitter, folding her arms over her chest.

"Honest," Shigure insisted. "It's oooo-kaaaay… trust me." He smiled disarmingly.

"Ain't buying it, buster," Kyoko shook her head, smirking slightly. "Off the computer."

Shigure let out an injured sigh and extracted himself from the machine's corner, dragging his book-bag along after him.

"So… who're you, anyway, pretty lady?" Shigure asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Mind out of the gutter, please," Kyoko all but growled. "I'm the babysitter."

"Really?" Shigure said, seeming surprised for a moment. He chuckled. "I'm the cousin. Did the darling little rugrats run rampant whilst I was out?"

"I think I did pretty well for my first day here," decided Kyoko.

"Meaning you think you're gonna have a second and third day here?" Shigure commented wonderingly.

"Why not? Did I do something wrong?"

"You… nothing personal… I mean, it's not like you can _help_… being… a girl—lady! And a very beautiful lady!"

"Just how old _are_ you anyway, junior?" Kyoko was still trying to figure out whether or not she liked Shigure _at all_.

"Seventeen—but that doesn't matter. I mean, no problem, right? Hatori acts like he's seven-_ty_, so… how come Masuko-san isn't here?"

"He was regrettably hit by a car," Kyoko stated.

"Ouch… how soon'll he get out?"

"Hopefully never. He's dead."

"Any other guy babysitters at the agency?" Shigure asked, after being respectfully silent for all of three seconds.

"What's your obsession with male babysitters?" demanded Kyoko.

"Nothing!" exclaimed Shigure hastily. "I mean, personally speaking, I prefer you. It's just that leaving the little tykes alone all day… with…" Shigure trailed off, the rest of his sentence mumbled. "Ah… it's… ah… _kinda risky_ for us…"

"Why?" Kyoko pressed. "And why can't I even hug them if they get upset for whatever reason?"

Shigure rolled his eyes thoughtfully, trying to find a seemingly reasonable explanation. He chuckled nervously and finally decided, "Heh… classified information?"

"Alright, fine," sighed Kyoko. "I won't ask anymore. It's none of my business, I know."

"Yup," Shigure sang out. "Any calls, 'sides the one from Ha'ri?"

"Nope."

"Aw, man," Shigure moaned. "Mii _promised_ she'd call when she finished editing my story, which she said she'd finish today! Now I'll _never_ be able to hand it in for credit!" He sighed dolefully and shook his head. "Never trust a straight-A student…"

"_You_ seem very trustworthy," Kyoko commented, rather pointedly, as she went into the kitchen to make tea for her headache.

"Ouch," laughed Shigure. The phone rang, and Shigure waited a few moments, listening as the answering machine picked up.

"Shigure?" a desperate-sounding voice called out. "It's Mii! I edited as much as I could of your story, but it doesn't looks like you've finished writing it! Pleeeease, Shigure! I _know_ you're trying to tick me off but… but I promised I'd finish editing it and I want to! But it's hard to edit parts of your book that are non-existent!"

Shigure smirked, clearly amused.

"If you're there, Shigure, pick up! Please!" Mii all but sobbed.

"Maybe you should pick up," Kyoko suggested.

Shigure pretended to consider this for a moment before finally picking up. "Hey, Mii."

"Shigure!" Mii exclaimed. "Please! Finish it so I can edit it! Professor Kido wants it turned in by tomorrow!"

"If only I didn't have this _horrible_ writer's block," Shigure sighed loudly.

"WHAT?! You—you said you… you… you-u-u!" wept Mii.

"Come, now, what are _you_ so worried about?"

"I'm going to be an editor when I graduate!" she cried. "I have to get used to deadlines and I think I'm already used to them! I'm freaking out, Shigure! Please! Write!"

"But," Shigure tried to sound sad, "I have no inspiration…"

"Wri-i-iiiite!"

"It'll be at your place in ten minutes."

"Five—five chapters in ten minutes?" gasped Mii.

"Yeah. I've got it right here. I'll just ask a friend to drop 'em off on her way home."

"You mean you FINISHED IT?!"

"Mm-hm," Shigure hummed, snickering.

"YESTERDAY?!"

"Yep."

"And… and you didn't TELL ME?!"

"You got it."

Mii yelled in frustration before growling, "Fine, Shigure, bring the -CENSORED- chapters over here. But don't expect _me_ to do any editing for _you_ EVER AGAIN!" She hung up loudly.

"Of course, sweetheart," Shigure said into the dead line. He hung up and called, "Honda-san? You can go home in about… ten minutes. I need a favor…"


	9. In Which Tohru Visits

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Note, 3:** Yes, the long-awaited first appearance of Tohru has finally arrived! Now they get to play together... maybe... almost... Anyway, please read and enjoy! (-)

**Verisimilitude**

**Nine: In Which Tohru Visits**

A few weeks later, on a Friday, the Sohmas were used to having Kyoko come over and Kyoko was relatively used to not being able to hug the kids. The doorbell which Hatori had just installed yesterday rang, and Shigure, the oldest one currently in the apartment, answered it.

"Hello, Honda-san," Shigure greeted her.

"Good morning, Shigure-san," Kyoko replied with a nod, as the teenager allowed her entrance.

"Who's the little dolly?" asked Shigure, indicating the adorable six-year-old clinging to Kyoko's pant leg.

"This is my daughter, Tohru," Kyoko said, smiling.

Tohru shyly looked up at Shigure, saying, "Hi!"

"Ah… cute," Shigure grinned. "But, ah, why is she here? Ain't the little bundle of joy supposed to be at school or something?"

"Her whole school was going on a special field trip today," Kyoko began to explain. "She was too scared to go at the last minute, so I decided to bring her with me to work. I hope that's alright…?"

"Erm… I, ah, hafta go now… I… guess it's okay, so long as she doesn't hug anyone here," Shigure said awkwardly. "Umm… yeah. Bye, Honda-san, Tohru-kun." He shouted to the bedroom, "Honda-san is here, so I'm leaving now!"

"'Bout time!" a loud voice, more than likely Kyo's, shouted.

"Behave yourselves, young'uns!" Shigure continued teasingly.

"Just shut up and leave!"

"Be nice, Kyo-kun," Kyoko warned.

"…Whatever…"

As Shigure left the apartment, jogging to school, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Ha'ri?" he said into the device. "I think we might have a problem…"

-

"Who's that?" Kyo demanded as he, followed closely by his three cousins, joined Kyoko and Tohru in the living/dining room.

"This is Tohru," Kyoko smiled.

"Tohru-chan!" Momiji shrieked in delight, lunging forward.

Kyo grabbed the blonde by the back of his shirt collar, and Yuki and Haru each seized an arm.

"Get back here, twerp!" Kyo yelled.

"But I wanna play with Tohru-chan!" Momiji exclaimed, swinging his legs wildly in a vain attempt to free himself. He eventually stopped moving.

"You can put Momiji down now," Kyoko pointed out.

Tohru beamed as Momiji was set back down. "Hello, Momiji-chan," she said with a smile.

"Hiya!" Momiji squealed, running up to Tohru but stopping about eight or nine inches away. "Honda-chan told us all 'bout you! Well, maybe not _all_, but lots and lots! Will you be my best friend?"

Hatori burst into the apartment at that moment. Apparently, the banging of the door did not affect (effect?) Tohru, however, because…

"Yes!" Tohru squealed back. She impulsively leaned forward and…

"No!" Haru yelped, running forward to try and stop the impending hug. Sadly…

_POOF!_

_POOF!_

Yuki and Kyo glanced at each other—a distraction would be very welcome at this point in time. So, they'd have to make a distraction.

"Stupid!" Kyo shouted at Yuki, swinging an intentionally misaimed punch at the other boy.

"Am not, either!" Yuki shot back, catching on to Kyo's plan. As desired, Kyoko immediately set to trying to pull them apart and scolding them.

Hatori used this opportunity to usher calf-Haru and bunny-Momiji into the bedroom, tossing their clothes in after them. Then he shooed the dumbstruck Tohru into the bathroom.

"Tohru-kun," began Hatori, slightly out of breath. He knelt down and put both hands on her shoulders. "What did you see?"

"A… a… bunny…"

"Oh, shoot." Hatori looked at Tohru and said, "You can't tell your mommy about this, okay? You have to be very quiet, now…" _…While I erase your memory…_

Tohru didn't even attempt a reply.

"I'm kinda new at this," Hatori continued, "so you might feel a little sick afterward. I'm going to make sure you don't remember the past few minutes, okay?"

"…Eh?"

"Just sit down and relax," Hatori ordered quietly.

Tohru sat down stiffly on the floor.

"Close your eyes."

Tohru stared wide-eyed at the teenager.

"It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. Close your eyes," repeated Hatori.

Tohru closed her eyes. Hatori put a hand on her forehead and, a few minutes later, Tohru was sleeping. She awoke when Hatori gently shook her shoulder.

"Tohru-kun," Hatori said, helping her to sit up. "How do you feel?"

"M—my head hurts," commented Tohru. "And… and my tummy, too."

"That's why you came in here," Hatori coolly stated. "You said you felt sick."

They left the bathroom a few minutes later.

Kyoko, who'd just managed to pull Yuki and Kyo apart, looked over and asked quickly, "Tohru, are you okay?"

Hatori answered for her, "She was feeling a little sick so I took her to the bathroom. She'll be fine, but you should probably take her home and let her rest a little. I'll take care of the kids."

Kyoko picked up Tohru, hugging the sweet-faced little girl, and said, "Okay. Thanks. …Sohma-san?"

"Hm?" Hatori mumbled, setting up the boys' schoolwork.

"I don't mean to be nosy, but why are you here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shigure called me," answered Hatori. He continued with a smooth fib, "He reminded me that I have to take our cousins to the dentist today."

"Hey! I thought that was tomorrow!"

Hatori gave Kyo a warning look.

"Oh. Yeah. Right," Kyo quickly agreed. "Today."

"We'll see you Monday," Hatori told Kyoko.

"Of course. Say 'good-bye', Tohru," Kyoko smiled at her daughter.

Tohru, looking a bit dazed as she wondered who those three strangers were, said, "Bye…."

By the time the Hondas were gone, Haru and Momiji had changed back and were dressed again. Hatori ordered Haru to begin studying with his two cousins.

"And I don't want to hear a _word_ out of anyone," Hatori said firmly. "I'll be back in a minute to help you. Momiji, back in the bedroom. We need to talk."

Momiji sat down timidly on his bed, and Hatori sat on the edge of the bed across from the bunny's.

"That was very bad, Momiji," Hatori started. "You know better than to hug a girl."

"I'm sorry," whispered the blond boy, watery-eyed.

"You should be. …Don't try crying and pouting… you know that doesn't work on me. …Momiji…. Oh, for Pete's sake! C'mere," Hatori sighed.

Momiji immediately leapt into the teen's open arms.

"You can only hug guys. But try not to get too used to _that_, either, or when you get older, people might think you're a little weird."

"Why?" Momiji sniffled.

"Because the world is insane." Hatori petted his cousin's hair a bit before saying, "Stop crying. You have studying to do. Even if _my_ high school career is falling to pieces, at least _you_ can get smart."

"Okay." Momiji slid off Hatori's lap. He suddenly jumped up again and kissed Hatori on the nose. "I love you, Ha'ri!" That said, the bunny scampered off to his work.

Hatori sighed. What was he going to tell the teachers at school?

He suddenly felt sick? Well, that was true. The bottom had just about fallen out of his stomach when Shigure had told him that Kyoko's affectionate daughter was at their apartment.

His cousin had gone crazier than usual? No. Everyone knew that Shigure was just about as mad as they got.

Oh, here was a good one—he had to protect the family secret from being revealed to the insane world!

Another sigh. _Maybe I should drop out…_

_…No way!_ That would be a bad influence on the kids…

"…okay? Hello?"

"WAAH! Ha'ri's DEAD!!"

Speaking of the devils, there they were. Waving small hands in his face, calling at him to wake up, proclaiming his sudden death…

"I'm fine, Momiji," Hatori assured him. He looked pointedly at them. "And why aren't you studying?"

The quartet glanced at each other before sprinting out of the room. Hatori smirked slightly. He may be failing rapidly at high school, but he was still the king of his castle!

Or apartment, if you want to get technical…


	10. Secret Revealed

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Ten: Secret Revealed**

Hatori, sitting in the dentist's waiting room with Kyo, Yuki, and Momiji, scolded Kyo for the umpteenth time. What did that kid not understand about the term "be nice"? Was that order truly so hard to comprehend?

He sighed as his cell phone vibrated in his jacket pocket.

"Hatori Sohma," was his greeting.

"Ah, Sohma-san! I must've gotten the right number after all. This is Kyoko."

"May I help you, Honda-san?"

"I know."

"I'm sure you know a lot," Hatori commented dryly. "What thing in particular are you so thrilled about that you have to tell _me_?"

"I know why you don't want me hugging the boys."

…

"Sohma-san?"

"Yes… I'm here. And what do you think is my reason?"

Lowering her voice to a whisper, Kyoko stated, "I saw what happened to Momiji-chan and Haru-chan."

"Pardon?" _Time for the 'dumb-and-innocent' act._ "What happened to them?"

"For one thing, they turned into a bunny and a calf."

"Are you feeling well?"

"Sohma-san, I know what I saw. I know you're only pretending that you're clueless." _Looks like the consumers aren't buying what I have to sell today._

Hatori questioned, "Well… what's _your_ explanation for this, shall we say… _occurrence_?" _Might as well get an interesting story out of this._

"They change into animals whenever they're hugged." _Good guess, Honda-san._

"Close. Only by females." _Oh, _suuuure_, Ha'ri, spit it out in a dentist's office._

"…If I hadn't spent all last night getting a hold of myself, I don't think I'd still be conscious enough to talk to you right now."

"Well, congratulations, Honda-san," Hatori applauded her, somewhat sarcastically. "You now know the Sohma family secret."

The three young Sohmas stared up at Hatori, who motioned for them to remain silent by pressing a finger to his lips.

"So," Kyoko asked slowly, "what now?"

"Now you either prove to me that you can keep a secret, or you suddenly become startlingly forgetful."

"Are you… _threatening_ me?!"

Ignoring her last question, Hatori said coolly, "You tell me, Honda-san. Can you handle secrets?"

"Of course I can," Kyoko all but spat, suddenly furious at Hatori's somewhat glib question. "Are you questioning my integrity?!"

"You must forgive me for my rudeness, Honda-san, but the entire Sohma family is at stake, here. I have to test your honorability before I trust you with our little familial issues."

"Issue_s_? Just how many deep, dark secrets do you have?" snorted Kyoko, half teasingly.

"Oh, I'd say about twelve of them. Listen, we can't go into details about this right now. I'll drop off the kids with Shigure soon, and I'll meet you in the café next to my apartment building at about five. We can find a place to talk then. Does that sound alright?"

"Sure. Five. Bye." Kyoko hung up.

-

And so, at five that evening, they met in the café next door to Hatori's (and Shigure and Kyo and Yuki's…) apartment building.

"Where do you want to talk?" Kyoko asked.

Hatori glanced around and then slid into a booth. "I've decided that I'm not going to say anything too specific about the _issues_, so here's fine."

Kyoko sat down across from him.

"We'll be talking about a new movie from now until we leave, okay?"

"Alright," agreed Kyoko.

"Remember how that very rude character asked that babysitter if he could trust her?"

"Clearly."

"Well, you left soon after, so you didn't hear him talking the situation over with his obnoxious cousin. They decided that they could, indeed, trust the babysitter."

"That's good to hear," Kyoko decided musingly.

"Yes, it is. Because if they couldn't, the rude character would've had to erase the babysitter's memory."

"Could you tell me more about the 'situation' that could end up with the babysitter's memory erased?" Kyoko pressed.

"A little. You see, the family of the rude character and the obnoxious character was cursed. Twelve of them were, at least. They would each turn into an animal of the Jyuunishi at the most inconvenient of times."

"Like, say, when they were… hugged?"

"Yes. Or if they were under an excessive amount of physical strain."

"That's terrible," Kyoko murmured sympathetically.

Hatori nodded slowly and continued, "It was a pretty big plotline, where the cursed family was concerned. And it was very important that no one else found out."

"I can—I think the babysitter could understand that."

"They hoped she would. Because they'd have a heck of a time finding another decent babysitter."

Kyoko smiled slightly.

"They hoped the babysitter would also understand that this was a secret that could never be told. She had to keep the secret to the grave."

"To the grave," Kyoko repeated, nodding solemnly.

"As long as the babysitter kept the promise," Hatori concluded, "it was a reasonably happy movie. So, that's the sum of it. I'd better go, before Shigure starts making trouble."

Kyoko grinned and stood up with Hatori. "I'll see you Monday, then."

Hatori grunted in agreement before asking, "Do you need me to see you home?"

"No, thanks. I got here alright, I'll get back alright."

She smiled again before leaving the neighborhood… perhaps never to return…


	11. To School or Not to School

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**))))(((( NOTE, 3 - _READ IT OR I'LL SIC AKITO ON YOU!!!_:** Now that I have your attention, I'd just like to inform you that Kyoko is still alive at the time of this chapter. Please note that, in the last chapter, I said "_perhaps never to return_", not "_never to return_". There is a difference. I just felt like being evil, there. (evil laughter) Don't worry, Kyoko - I'll let you live a _little_ longer! (more evil laughter, until Akito comes out and beans me for using him to scare the readers)

**Eleven: To School or Not to School**

As the years passed (only four, they're not, like, eighty or anything!), Kyo and Yuki got to be very good friends. Kyo had yet to find that Yuki was the rat, and Yuki still didn't know that Kyo was cursed by the cat. Due to their friendship, they teamed up to face Hatori and Shigure.

"Come _on_," ten-year-old Kyo snapped. "Why _can't_ we go to regular school like _normal_ people?"

"A, because we aren't normal people," Hatori, now twenty-one, stated. "B, because I want to make sure that no one finds out about the curse."

"But it's not like we're going to go around hugging every girl we see!" Kyo protested. "It's just Yuki and me who wanna go—not Momiji 'I'm-a-raving-hugging-lunatic' Sohma!"

"WAAH!" Momiji, who'd been just about to go back to the bedroom with Haru, wailed loudly. "Hatori! Kyo's picking on me!"

"Haven't you outgrown that yet?" Hatori asked with a frown.

"Apparently not," whispered Yuki, as nine-year-old Momiji skipped into the bedroom.

Hatori gave Yuki a look.

"…Sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing?" Kyo demanded. "He'll see an apology as a weak spot and eat us alive!"

"Starting to sound like Ritsu," Shigure commented on Yuki's apology, clucking his tongue in mock scorn. He grinned evilly and poked Yuki in the side. Yuki jumped nearly a foot away in surprise. "Nope," sniggered Shigure. "I guess you _aren't_ Ritsu in disguise!"

"Who the -CENSORED- is Ritsu?" Kyo glared.

Rubbing his temples exhaustedly, Hatori warned, "Watch the language, Kyo."

"Who the -CENSORED- cares?!" yelled Kyo. "Why can't we go to regular school? You said we'd talk about it when we were ten! And we're ten!"

Yuki gave a firm nod, showing his support and approval of Kyo's previous three sentences.

"Fine. Now you're ten," Hatori sighed.

Kyo and Yuki, thinking that Hatori was about to cave, glanced at each other triumphantly.

"Now we've talked about it."

The ten-year-olds eyed Hatori warily.

"Now we can _stop_ talking about it."

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Kyo shouted. "Give me one _good_ reason why not!"

Hatori, realizing that he wouldn't be able to continue typing that thesis any time soon, logged off of the computer and turned to face his two oldest charges.

"Look, Kyo, Yuki," Hatori said, trying to reason with the pair. "You can be home schooled all the way up to the college level. Once you're eighteen—"

"Eighteen?!" Kyo and Yuki chorused.

"—you can go to a public, _regular_ university. Can't you settle for that?"

"No!" Kyo scowled.

"Please, Hatori," Yuki added, trying to reason with _Hatori_. "We know not to get too close to girls. _Kyo and I_ haven't had any trouble not hugging Honda-san, in all the years she's watched us during the day, have we? We aren't Momiji. We don't go around _trying_ to hug people. We'll be really careful. …Please?"

Shigure put in, "I think they're right, Ha'ri."

Kyo and Yuki stared at their older cousin.

"They _should_ go to regular school," Shigure continued. "I mean, they aren't like you. They actually have a chance at a social life!"

Hatori gave Shigure the evil eye, saying crisply, "That's the problem. Socializing. More than half of the human population is female. Odds are that they'll eventually make a feminine friend." He muttered under his breath, "And for your information, I was in the high school chess club for two years."

The other three in the room gave a collective smile. They were, slowly but surely, beginning to get to Hatori.

Hatori turned back around and began typing at the computer.

"Whatcha doing?" Kyo asked.

"Looking up local schools."

"Yes!" Kyo and Yuki exclaimed, giving each other a high-five.

-

"Hey. _Hey_. HEY!!"

Kyo flung the blankets off of Yuki.

Yuki pulled the covers back over his head.

"Five more minutes," Yuki muttered, still mostly asleep.

"C'mon! We're gonna be late for _school_!"

Yuki leapt straight up and stared wide-eyed at Kyo.

"What?" Kyo demanded.

Glancing around to make sure that Momiji and Haru weren't in the room, Yuki admitted quietly, "I'm scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"…School."

"But I thought you _wanted_ to go," Kyo mused.

"I… do… but… now I'm scared. Maybe—maybe you should go without me."

"No way am I going to face those weird normal people alone!" Kyo hollered, grabbing Yuki by the arm. "Go! Take a shower! Get dressed!" The orange-top rammed a few random clothing articles at his cousin's chest, forcing Yuki to hold them.

"GO!" Kyo shouted, literally pushing him out the bedroom door.

Shigure and Hatori, preparing to leave for their first college classes of the day, looked at each other. Shigure grinned.

"Little bundles of joy sound excited, eh?"

Momiji looked up at Shigure and asked, "Why can't Haru and _I_ go to school?"

"We'll talk about it next year, okay?" Hatori said. It wasn't really a question, because Momiji and Haru didn't really have a choice.

"Okay," Momiji sighed.

-

Yuki, still scared stiff, had to be literally pushed and pulled by Kyo to the school building.

"Don't be such a baby," Kyo said, dragging his cousin along by the arm. "Are you a man or a mouse?"

Needless to say, Yuki wasn't quite sure of how to answer that question.

"It'll be great!"

"But… won't you miss Honda-san?" Yuki queried.

"Yeah, sure, but come _on_! Freedom! Breathe it! Taste it! _Feel_ it!"

"You're starting to sound like Shigure," warned Yuki.

"_Never_ say that _again_," Kyo glowered, dead serious as he turned around, now walking backwards, to look at Yuki.

"Look out!" Yuki suddenly exclaimed, seizing Kyo by the jacket and stumbling a few feet away.

"What the -CENSORED-?!"

"Oh-h! I'm so sorry!" a girl's voice exclaimed. "I'm so clumsy, I almost bumped into you!"

The two Sohma boys turned to look at the wide-eyed brunette.

She bowed respectfully, continuing with, "I'm Tohru Honda, and I am _so sorry_! I was just thinking so hard that I walked right past the school and almost bumped into you!"

"Yeah, well, just watch it," Kyo snapped at her.

"_Tohru_ Honda?" Yuki repeated.

"Yes," Tohru confirmed, bowing slightly again.

"Hey, you related to Kyoko Honda?" Kyo asked.

"Yes," Tohru smiled. "She's my mother."

"She 'sits for our family," stated Kyo. _And you visited us one day,_ thought Kyo.

_And you got your memory erased,_ Yuki thought.

"Then you must be Kyo Sohma-kun!" Tohru beamed at the orange-haired boy.

"Lucky guess," Kyo frowned, folding his arms over his chest sourly.

She turned her grin to Yuki. "And you must be… Yuki Sohma-kun."

Yuki gave a vague smile and a short bow. "It is an honor to meet you, Miss Honda."

"Oh!" Tohru suddenly cried. "We're going to be late to school! Let's go! Um, I mean, if you _want_ to walk with me the rest of the way, that is…"

"Of course," Yuki politely nodded.

"Since we're goin' there, anyway," Kyo muttered.

"Great! I hope we get to be good friends," Tohru smiled.

Kyo rolled his eyes. "You're gonna break your mouth, smiling so much."

Tohru tried to set her mouth in a straight line, but ended up giggling, "Let's go!"


	12. First Day

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Twelve: First Day**

Kyo sat slouched in his chair, listening to that… that… _adult_ drone on and on and on…

_Will she _ever_ stop yappin'? Maybe this wasn't such a hot idea after all._

_I hope Yuki's holding up okay without me… the little wimp is probably too scared to move!_

He folded his arms tightly over his chest.

_What a way to spend my first day at a _normal_ school! -CENSORED- it…_

-

Meanwhile, Yuki was nervously waiting outside for his cousin.

"How was your day, Sohma-kun?" Tohru smiled at Yuki. She'd just walked out of the school building.

"It went very well, thank you," Yuki replied politely.

"Where's Kyo-kun?"

"Detention," sighed Yuki.

"Oh!" Tohru cried. "Poor Kyo-kun! What happened? I-I mean, not that it's my business—"

"I don't know if he'd want you to know," Yuki interrupted softly, "but you can ask him, if you'd like."

At that precise moment, Kyo came stalking out of the building. He marched straight up to Yuki and yelled, "WE'RE DROPPIN' OUT!" Turning on Tohru, he snapped, "WHAT YOU LOOKIN' AT?!"

Tohru jumped back and quickly bowed, stammering, "N-nothing, Kyo-kun!"

"I don't think you had to yell at Miss Honda, Kyo," Yuki commented, tactfully looking at Kyo in the hope of squeezing an apology out of the orange-top.

"Whatever," Kyo grumbled. "But come _on_! Detention _just_ for trying to hit that -CENSORED- Arisa Uotani?!"

"Uo-chan?" Tohru gasped. "Is that the reason that _she_ got detention, too?"

"Yeah, she kicked me in the shin! I was just tryin' to get her back," Kyo growled in his own defense.

"Maybe we should just go home," Yuki suggested.

"Yes!" Tohru agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

And so the trio went their separate ways.

Hatori had given Yuki a cell phone to hold and use in case of emergency. (He didn't let Kyo hold it for fear that the cat would use it as a weapon should he get into a fight.) Now said cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Yuki asked into it.

"Yun-Yun!" a panic-ridden voice screamed. "Help!"

"Momiji? What's the matter?"

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Momiji? Are you alright?" Yuki stopped walking and Kyo followed suit.

"Whatsamatter with the little dingdong?" Kyo demanded.

"Shh, I don't know. Momiji?"

"This is Haru," the new voice on the other end of the line announced. He still sounded mostly calm, but there was somewhat of a strained tone in his voice.

"Haru, what's going on?"

"We were going for a walk with Honda-san and…"

"And what? Is everything okay?"

"What's going on?" Kyo hissed.

Haru replied to Yuki's question, "No. Honda-san… we were crossing the street and… a car…"

"Calm down, Haru," Yuki said, beginning to tremble. "Where are you right now?"

"At… the hospital…"

"Did you call Hatori?"

"No, we just dialed the first number that popped into our heads…"

"O-okay. I-I'll call Hatori."

"Why?" Kyo snapped.

"J-just stay where you are," Yuki told Haru. "We'll talk to you later." Yuki hung up on Haru and then called Hatori. "Hatori? Momiji and Haru c-c-called…"

"Yuki?" Hatori asked. "Are you okay?" _Oh my God, what if Akito finally decided to do something about Yuki?_

"Yuki," Hatori repeated. "Answer me!"

"H-H-Honda-s-san i-i-is…"

"Where are you? Shh… where should I be going right about now?"

"To M-Momiji and Haru."

"Where?"

"The hos… hospital."

"Alright, Yuki, calm down. You and Kyo go home; I'll call Shigure on my way to the hospital and he can stay with you two, okay?"

"O-okay." As soon as Yuki hung up…

"WHAT THE -CENSORED- IS GOIN' ON?!"

"W-we have to go ho-ome," Yuki stammered.

"I know that, -CENSORED- it! And what're you crying for?!"

Yuki quickly wiped at his eyes and said, somewhat indignantly, "I don't cry."

"Yeah, ya do! All the time! You just don't know that I can see you! What's goin' on?"

"Something may have happened to Honda-san," Yuki replied coolly.

"…I don't suppose it's a promotion from the babysittin' agency, either…"

"I don't suppose it is." Yuki began walking again.

"Hey, come _on_! What's it?" Kyo scowled, following Yuki.

"Honda-san was in an accident."

"She okay?"

Yuki stopped suddenly and Kyo crashed into him from behind.

"Oww… watch it!" Kyo rubbed his jaw. "Well? She's alright, ain't she?"

"How should I know?" Yuki ground out. He started forward.

Kyo stayed still. He asked, surprisingly quietly, "Is she dead?"

"Why ask me? I don't know."

"-CENSORED- it!" Kyo suddenly shouted. The orange-top spun around and sped away. Where he was running to, however, he had no clue.


	13. Last Day

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Thirteen: Last Day**

Yuki stared after his cousin, having no will to run after him. Yes, he knew that was a terrible thing, but at the moment he couldn't help it. The violet-eyed boy sat down on a grassy patch just outside of the schoolyard. Honda-san… could be gone forever? He held back a sniffle and set his backpack down at his side.

A small bird hopped over to him, chirruping quietly. Yuki reached over to pat the bird's soft head, but the creature flew off. For some reason, this made Yuki go from tragically miserable to incurably miserable. Everyone was leaving him lately.

Why? Why couldn't anybody ever stick around? Was he truly that horrible? Perhaps Akito was right. After all, his mother hated him, his brother couldn't stand the sight of him, Honda-san may have been dead—somehow that must have been his fault, too—and Kyo had just run off. Yuki drew his legs up and hugged them to his chest, staring watery-eyed at the ground.

The bird looked down from his perch on the tree branch. That person looked very sad… maybe he shouldn't have left. So the incredibly sympathetic bird flitted back down, perching on Yuki's schoolbag. It twitted again, informing the boy of his new company.

Warily this time, Yuki extended one arm and tremulously used one finger to stroke the bird's feathers.

A car stopped in front of the school building. Yuki truly couldn't care less about this, however, as he tried to focus his mind solely on his new feathered friend. Light footsteps trotted across the sidewalk, coming to a halt a foot away from Yuki.

Having no choice left but to look up, Yuki did so.

A few moments later, the bird was still sitting on Yuki's backpack.

It looked around.

It was alone.

-

Kyo ran and ran, legs silently screaming in protest as he rocketed across yet another street. He had to find somewhere to rest. Somewhere to think. Somewhere safe.

_Then why didn't you just go back to the apartment?_ Kyo asked himself.

_Because my idiot cousins are so noisy that I wouldn't be able to get half a second of peace!_

Now that he'd finally begun to think again, Kyo wondered what had happened to Honda-san. What kind of accident was it that had (possibly) killed or (certainly) injured her?

Car accident? He'd run over the driver.

Animal attack? He'd sue the owner to death.

Something fell on her? He'd drop the perpetrator off a cliff.

She fell into a hole of some kind? He'd drop _Japan_ off a cliff for putting such a hole in Honda-san's path!

The orange-top panted exhaustedly, slowing down as he suddenly realized that he didn't recognize this neighborhood at all. He glanced around; only one other person was currently in eyeshot. And that person looked like a perverted weirdo. Not in the Shigure-like way, either. This person was—walking up to him!

_Okay, dude,_ Kyo thought at the stranger. _Either you're leavin' or I am… and it doesn't look like you're leaving._

Quickly mustering up the last of his energy, Kyo darted off again.

-

At about seven o' clock that evening, Tohru was beginning to worry. Where was her mom? Maybe the Sohmas were just being a huger handful than usual. No, Mom would have called… she really would've! Something was wrong.

Tohru was so caught up in her near-panicked state that she jumped halfway out of her skin when someone knocked at the door of her mom's and her apartment.

_Mom! She must've forgotten her keys!_

The onigiri swooshed to the door and, not thinking twice in her sudden joy, pulled the knob.

"Oh!" she exclaimed when she realized that it was not her mother standing in the hallway, but a black-haired young man. "Um… _hai_?"

"You are Tohru Honda?" the sullen twenty-something asked. He looked oddly familiar… perhaps she'd seen him once or twice at the supermarket?

"Eh? Oh, yes!"

"I am Hatori Sohma. I'm afraid I have some bad news regarding your mother."

Tohru's wide eyes widened even further.

Hatori glanced at the ground briefly, a small sign of just how little he was enjoying this, before stating, "She was in a car accident."

She gasped, mentally shrieking "MOM!", while whispering, "Is she… okay?"

Hatori put a hand on her shoulder. "She said to tell you not to cry too much, before she… I'm sorry…"

As he'd expected, Tohru promptly burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. If it hadn't been for his—shall we call it?—_situation_, Hatori would've given her a small, comforting hug.

Things being as they were, however, he patted her shoulder lightly and guided her into the apartment, gently pushing her down to sit on the well-worn but still-soft couch.

"Do you have any relatives you can stay with?" Hatori asked.

Tohru was too busy crying to reply. With a barely suppressed sigh, Hatori used one hand to carefully massage the back of her neck.

"Well," Hatori continued, mostly to himself as he was the only one listening, "you can't stay here alone. I… guess I'll be sleeping on the sofa for a while…"


	14. Home Sweet Home

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Fourteen: Home Sweet Home**

"I've been watching you, Yuki," Akito smiled, pleasantly enough. "I've been watching ever since you left. I missed you."

Yuki, clenching his fists to keep his hands from shaking, continued to stare at his feet rather than look up at the person he was standing before.

"What's the matter? Aren't you happy to be back home? What was one of those drippy sayings again? …Ah, yes. There's no place like home…. Home sweet home…."

Akito walked towards the other boy, one hand behind his back. He used his other hand to gently lift Yuki's chin. "Why aren't you saying anything, Yuki?" Akito whispered. "Have you forgotten your manners?"

He released Yuki's chin, only to use his now-free hand to slap the rat across the face. Yuki flinched, turning his head away, but didn't say or do anything other than tighten his fists further.

"What's the matter, Yuki?" Akito hissed. "Forgotten how to scream? Do I have to teach you again? You're a slow, stupid learner, so it could take a while."

Yuki bit his lower lip and squeezed his eyes shut.

_Hatori? Shigure? Anyone… please help me…_

-

Kyo looked around.

_Dang…_

He shivered a bit and plunked down against one of the buildings lining the alley.

_Shoot…_

Glaring out at nothing in particular, the orange-top let out a slight growl.

_For Pete's sake, Ha'ri, I'm not even cursing! Come find me! Geez… the only way that this would be worse would be if Haru had been my trail guide!_

Completely exhausted from his sudden flight, Kyo hung his head, closing his eyes.

_I won't sleep, I won't sleep, I won't sleep…_

He slept.

-

Hatori led Tohru down to his car, helping her into the backseat with Momiji and Hatsuharu.

"Hello, Tohru-chan," Momiji sniffled, managing to make a smile cut across his tear-stained cheeks. "You're gonna come with us now, so you'll be okay." He took a hold of her hand, squeezing lightly to make sure that she knew he was there.

Tohru, still crying, blubbered, "_Hai_," out of pure politeness.

Momiji, Haru, and Hatori seemed to understand that Tohru probably didn't feel like talking at the moment, so they drove the rest of the way back to the Sohmas' apartment in silence.

Once at the apartment, Hatori was just about to open the door when Shigure flung it open. The black-haired writer seemed poised with an annoyed expression on his face, until he realized who it was, at which point he swallowed hard and looked very worried.

"Hi, Tohru-kun," Shigure smiled weakly. "My, such an honor to be in the presence of such a beautiful lady." He gasped, "Oh, Ha'ri, did you forget her baggage?"

Hatori rammed Tohru's backpack, which he'd filled with a few necessities, into his cousin's stomach.

"Can't you just _try_ to stop acting like an idiot for _two minutes_?" hissed the medical student.

"Ummm…" Shigure pretended to think.

Hatori made a disgusted little noise before saying gently to Tohru, "Could you follow Momiji and Haru to the bedroom? You can take the bed with the pillow that has the dragon emblem on it. Haru," he continued, grabbing back Tohru's schoolbag, "can you carry Tohru's bag?"

Haru nodded solemnly, taking the bag, and started towards the bedroom.

"C'mon, Tohru-chan," Momiji smiled, holding Tohru's left hand in his right. "You can sleep with my favorite stuffed animal tonight. She's a big yellow bunny, and she's all fluffy and soft. Her name is Teruko; you can hug her whenever you want and keep her as long as you need."

Having verbally introduced Tohru to his toy bunny, Momiji carefully pulled the onigiri to the bedroom.

"Where are Kyo and Yuki?" Hatori demanded, as soon as the kids were out of earshot.

"Well, um…"

"Shigure," Hatori said quickly. "Where are they?"

"W-well… they're not here…"

Grabbing Shigure by his shirt collar with a dangerously tight grasp, he murmured lethally, "_Where are they_?"

Shigure gurgled a bit, rasping, "Hard… to… talk… choking…"

Loosening his grip only slightly, Hatori growled, "Where?"

"I… don't know… Ha'ri…"

Hatori cursed under his breath, shoving Shigure to the ground with an aggressive push.

"I should've picked them up myself," muttered Hatori, accidentally-on-purpose kicking the dog in the shin as he stalked past him. "Should've known I couldn't trust you…."

"But… what'd I do?" Shigure gasped out, rubbing his neck and moving his injured leg slightly.

"Look, you -CENSORED- mutt," Hatori all but growled, instead of answering Shigure's question. "Can I trust you to stay here with the kids and not do anything stupid or perverted?"

"Of… of course." Shigure carefully watched Hatori, who was violently shoving a few things into a plain black backpack. A couple of blankets, some small water bottles, a box of crackers….

"Whatcha doing?" Shigure asked tentatively, not wanting to get totally beaten up.

"I'm going to look for them," Hatori glared, grabbing a flashlight and checking if it worked. The experiment was a success so he kept it in his hand as he stalked out the door, carrying the backpack, tossing over his shoulder, "Take care of the kids. I'll be back before breakfast tomorrow."

Shigure finally stood up, dusting himself off, and spoke to the closed door. "Okee-doke, Tori. I'll get on the phone and call some neighbors and stuff… maybe Yun and Kyon are with them… and maybe you're gonna get all exhausted for nothin'… and maybe I'll start laughing my head off at you…"

He grabbed the phone and started dialing.

"I hope."


	15. Hatori Sohma, Scared

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Fifteen: Hatori Sohma, Scared**

Hatori, looking totally fatigued, stumbled back into the apartment at nine in the morning.

He entered alone.

"You didn't find them, I see?" Shigure asked, looking up from his breakfast. He, Haru, Momiji, and Tohru were all quietly seated at the dining table.

Hatori shook his head wearily, dropping his bag on the couch and then plopping down next to it. He raised both hands, using them to cover his tired face.

"I, ah, hope you don't mind that I'm letting Tohru-kun stay home today." He glanced at the girl sitting across from him at the table. "I didn't think it would be a good idea to make her go to school so soon…"

"I-I'm fine, Shigure-san," Tohru said. Remembering that Hatori had told her that Kyoko wished for Tohru to not be too sad, she smiled. Not her usual bright smile, but a kind grin nonetheless. "I don't want to be any trouble for you."

"Shigure," Hatori breathed, "why aren't _you_ at school?"

"Well, it would be downright stupid and perverted of me to leave the kids alone, and since _you_ asked me not to do anything stupid or perverted…" Shigure explained.

"Right… right…"

Shigure looked worriedly at his fellow college student. The dragon was seriously distraught, that was obvious. Well, by other people's standards, Hatori would be deemed very calm, all things considered. But by Hatori-standards… this was distraught.

"Ha'ri, go to sleep," urged Shigure.

"No… not until those two are back home." He suddenly stood up. "Idiot!"

"Hey!"

"Not you, me! No, you! Both of us!"

"Geez, Ha'ri, you really _do_ need to rest. What's _your_ problem?"

"Why haven't we called their cell phone already?" Hatori grabbed the phone and quickly dialed the number.

-

A squirrel, exploring an abandoned backpack outside of the elementary school, leapt about ten feet into the air as the bag began ringing.

-

"Nothing," murmured Hatori, hanging up the telephone.

"Maybe they just don't wanna talk to you," Shigure suggested. "You aren't exactly the greatest conversationalist in the world, y'know…"

Hatori stared at Shigure coldly, saying through gritted teeth, "Momiji… Haru… Tohru… would you mind finishing your food in the kitchen?"

"Is something wrong, Hatori-san?" Tohru asked as Haru and Momiji quickly gathered up their dishes and trotted into the kitchen without a word.

"No, Tohru-kun," Hatori replied, gaze still fixed on Shigure. "Just go with Haru and Momiji."

"A-alright." Tohru picked up her plate and cup and scurried off.

Shigure, still nibbling at his toast, asked, "Why'd ya ask them to leave, Ha'ri? Something wrong?"

"How can you?" Hatori hissed, disgustedly looking upon his cousin. "Honda-san is dead, Yuki and Kyo are lost somewhere, and _you_ act like nothing's wrong."

"Just trying to keep the kids relaxed," Shigure answered lightly, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"That's not it. That's not 'trying to keep the kids relaxed'. You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Now you're just being _unreasonable_, Hatori," stated Shigure, glancing at his infuriated friend. "Get some rest. You'll be back to normal after a few hours' sleep."

Hatori, himself, knew that he was stressed out, exhausted, and acting extraordinarily stupid, but this had been building up for a long time…

…What? You didn't _actually_ think that inside he was the same imperturbable young man he always acted like, did you? Of _course_ Hatori kept every single one of his pet peeves bottled up.

"And now you expect me to be like _you_, huh?" Hatori all but spat. "_Sleep_ while those two kids are somewhere out there. Akito could've found them, for all we know. I don't know how you can stand yourself, you -CENSORED- mutt."

Naturally, Shigure was beginning to get a bit riled up himself, what with Hatori attacking him so. Well, _two_ could play that game. The writer feigned examining the few bits of toast left on his plate, arranging them randomly.

"You think I'm not worried?" Shigure murmured. "You think it's _easy_ to be the bonehead providing comic relief when the whole world is falling to pieces?" He sharply broke a small piece of toast in half. "It's easy to do what you're doing, y'know."

"Oh? What am I doing?"

"You're panicking. Acting like a complete idiot." He smirked slightly, returning Hatori's stare evenly. "You're scared. The great Hatori Sohma is scared."

Hatori's fists automatically clenched at Shigure's comments, obviously meant to provoke him. It was working.

"Aw, is Ha'ri getting mad?" Shigure jibed. "Just admit that you need some rest and I'll shut up. How 'bout it, Ha'ri? You take a nap and we can pretend we never talked like this to each other." He smiled, somewhat sadly. "Please?"

_'So much like a dog,'_ Hatori thought. _'Begging.'_

Shigure frowned and stared at Hatori.

_'Did I say that out loud?'_

"You sure did," Shigure scowled.

Hatori tried to brush it off with, "I must've been thinking aloud…"

"Well, at least now I know what you _really_ think of me. Go… take a nap or something. Or jump out the window." He grinned, adding cheerfully, "Either one; I honestly couldn't care less." Pause. "Think I'll join the kiddies in the other room." He stood up and carried his breakfast dishes into the kitchen.

Hatori cleared off the couch and then flopped down into the sofa, sighing. This was really going well, wasn't it?

Wait—what was he doing? He couldn't just lie around and sleep! Kyo and Yuki—those poor kids probably needed him.

Hatori shot up off the couch, made a pit-stop in the bathroom, grabbed his bag, and then zoomed out of the apartment.

_Hang on,_ he thought (silently) to his younger cousins. _I'm coming_.


	16. The Lost are Found

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Sixteen: The Lost are Found**

Three days later, Shigure had long since gotten over Hatori's insulting thoughts and was now starting to worry about the dragon. As if it wasn't bad enough having Kyo and Yuki go missing, now Hatori had suddenly disappeared as well.

Speaking of Hatori, let's join him now.

Hatori wandered around warily—Kyo was somewhere around here. He just knew it. The schoolbag and jacket he'd found on the ground a few moments ago was proof of that. Poor kid; Kyo was probably off freezing to death someplace.

"Kyo," Hatori called quietly. "Are you there, Kyo?"

An orange head popped up from behind a trash can.

"Well, it's about time!" Kyo yelled hoarsely, throat dry. "I've been here for _three days_! Believe me, I've counted 'em and—hey, what you doin'?"

Hatori, who'd been hugging the cat, quickly released the orange-top.

"Can we just go home already?" grumped Kyo. "I'm hungry and thirsty and—hey, how's Honda-san?"

"I'm afraid she didn't make it, Kyo," Hatori murmured, pushing Kyo's messy hair out of his eyes.

Kyo looked about to bolt off again, so Hatori grabbed his arm.

"Running isn't going to help. Here." Hatori gave Kyo back his jacket.

"I'm not cold," Kyo denied, while putting on the light coat.

"You're shivering. You're hungry, right?" continued Hatori, reaching into his bag for a box of crackers.

"Not anymore," Kyo muttered, staring at the ground. He'd just found out that Honda-san was dead—how _could_ he be hungry?

"Well, you're still thirsty."

Kyo shrugged carelessly.

"Drink." Hatori handed him a small bottle. "It's a little warm, but it's still water."

Apathetically, Kyo accepted the life-giving liquid and took a few gulps. Even if _he_ was miserable, at least his _throat_ felt nice and wet.

"Is Yuki near?" Hatori asked.

"No, 'course not… he's not at home, _is_ he?" Kyo returned, already knowing the answer.

Sure enough, Hatori shook his head. "Where did you last see him?"

"In front of the school building."

"Come on, then. We'll check in front of the school on our way back to the apartment."

"And then I suppose you'll dump me at home and keep lookin' for Yuki?"

"That's the plan," Hatori confirmed, still keeping a light but cautious hold on Kyo's arm.

"That's _your_ plan. _My_ plan is that I look with you."

"No, you—"

"Either I search with you or I search on my own!" Kyo shouted with a threatening glare, before swallowing another mouthful of water.

"Kyo, you—"

"Fine, then!" Kyo broke loose of Hatori's grasp and started to run away.

"Kyo!"

Kyo hesitated, hoping that Hatori had changed his mind, and looked over his shoulder.

"You take one more step and you will be in bigger trouble than you ever thought possible."

Kyo's determined face fell into an expression of slack-jawed disappointment.

"If we don't find Yuki at the school and if you behave yourself, though, I'll let you help me make a list of places where he might be. Okay?"

Realizing that he truly didn't feel up to running away again so soon, Kyo decided that he didn't have a lot of options in this matter, so he nodded reluctantly and trudged back to Hatori.

As planned, they walked over to Hatori's car and drove back to the school to check if Yuki was somewhere around there. Naturally, however, all they found was his backpack.

Hatori picked up the bag gravely and said, "Kyo, we're just going to make one more quick stop. I don't want to take any chances."

"Huh?" Kyo grunted. "What're you talking about? Where are we going?"

"The Main House."

-

"Stay in the car," Hatori ordered. "I'll be back in a minute. Stay _right here_ and don't move until I return."

"Fine," Kyo grumbled, slouching down, planning something…

Hatori shut the car door and stealthily made his way through the property, heading for Yuki's "room". Not having been there for a while, it took him a few moments to remember the way.

He did find the room, however, and slipped into the dark chamber without a sound. Hatori crept up to Yuki, who was lying on the floor, curled up into a little ball.

"Yuki," Hatori whispered.

The boy gave a start, head shooting up.

"It's okay; I came to take you home."

Yuki shook his head slowly.

"You know me, remember? It's Hatori."

Yuki carefully nodded.

"Let's go."

Another shake of the head.

"Why not? You trust me, right?"

Yuki stared rigidly at the floor, murmuring, "No."

"Yuki…?"

"I don't trust you."


	17. The Promise

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Seventeen: The Promise**

Hatori stared at Yuki. "What? You don't trust me? Why?"

"You broke your promise."

"Promise? What promise?" Hatori demanded quietly.

"You promised—never mind," Yuki shook his head, returning Hatori's stare icily. "It doesn't matter." He broke his gaze and pulled his beaten body a couple of feet further from Hatori.

_Promise…_ Hatori thought, wracking his brain. _Promise, what promise? When did I ever—oh._

-FLASHBACK-

The time: About four years ago. Hatori and Shigure had just brought Yuki back to the apartment, and Hatori was now sitting on the couch with the boy, speaking quietly.

"H-Hatori-sama?" six-year-old Yuki began timidly.

"Yes?" Hatori squeezed Yuki's tiny, frail hands carefully in encouragement. "You can tell me anything, Yuki. It's okay."

"A-A-A-k-ki-t-t-to…" stuttered Yuki.

"What about him?" Hatori murmured.

"I-I don't l-like him much…" Yuki went on slowly.

"I know."

"I-I don't have to go back there again… do I?" Yuki meekly inquired.

"Of course not," Hatori was quick to assure the youngster. "I'm not going to bring you back there."

"B-but what if he… t-takes me?"

"I won't let him." Hatori lightly hugged Yuki. "Believe me, Yuki. I won't let Akito get you ever again."

"P-promise?"

"Yes," Hatori smiled slightly, just as Shigure, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji trooped into the room. "I promise."

-END FLASHBACK-

"Yuki, I never meant for this to happen," Hatori started, trying to... ugh... apologize.

Yuki shrugged and looked away. "Just leave me alone."

"You have to come with me," insisted Hatori.

"No. I'm not going. Not with you, anyway."

The door suddenly slid open again, and a fairly small body slipped into the room. Expecting that this was Akito, Hatori stood up, bracing himself to face the head of the Sohma family.

Instead, however, the newcomer made a small sound of surprise, and Kyo's voice blurted out, "Yuki!"

Yuki, appearing extremely indifferent, looked up wearily.

"What—who did that?" Kyo hissed, closing the door quietly and hurrying up to the violet-eyed boy.

Yuki cast his gaze downward again, not caring to talk anymore.

"Hatori?" Kyo pressed. "What happened to him?"

"I'll tell you later," Hatori decided. He glared a bit at the orange-top. "Why aren't you in the car?"

Kyo snorted. "You didn't _actually_ expect me to stay there, did you?"

"We'll discuss this at home. Come on, Yuki." Hatori offered his hand to help up the rat.

Yuki simply shook his head no, not making a move to accept the offer of assistance.

"Fine, then, we'll do it the other way."

Hatori picked up Yuki, positioning one hand below his shoulders and the other beneath his knees.

"Kyo, get the door. We're going to do this very quietly, alright?"

Kyo nodded and slid open the door. He fell back in surprise when he saw someone standing in the hallway. The shadowy figure smiled a bit, saying only one sentence:

"I was waiting for you."

Hatori strained his ears to listen to the oddly familiar voice. It didn't sound like Akito. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like—

"Aya!" Hatori breathed, half-shocked, half-relieved.

"Oh, it's so wonderful to see you again, Ha'ri!" Ayame beamed. "But we must hurry and get you out of here."

"What are _you_ doing here?" Hatori wanted to know, walking a few steps closer to the long-haired young man.

Ayame explained jovially, "I came to ask Akito for permission to open a shop. A marvelous dress shop to display all of my stunning fashion-related masterpieces! But enough of my rambling—you must take these two little fellows away from this place! Come along, come along!"

"We can find our way out alright," Hatori stated. "Are you coming with us?"

"'Tis a sad, sad thing to say," sighed Ayame dramatically. "Alas, I cannot. Well, if you can get out on your own, I'd best return to the room Akito put me in for the night. Take care, my divine family!"

With a flip of his hair, Ayame disappeared down the hallway.

If you were wondering why Kyo hadn't said anything rude by now, it's because he had been shocked into silence by Ayame's sudden appearance. Yuki, meanwhile, had missed seeing his brother due to the fact that he'd fallen asleep out of exhaustion from being scared by Akito.

Hatori jerked his head in the direction of the exit and said, "Let's go."

Although Hatori led the way out, Kyo had to open all the doors since the dragon had his hands full. The last door, however, would not budge.

"Da—_dang_. It's locked," Kyo informed Hatori, after several unsuccessful attempts at opening it.

"So it seems," Hatori agreed, with something of a grim sarcasm in his voice.

"What now?"

A thought suddenly occurred to Hatori. "Kyo," he began slowly, "is this the door you used to come in here?"

"Yeah. Didn't you use it, too? I mean, it was unlocked, so…"

"You didn't lock it shut after you came in, did you?"

"No…"

Before Hatori could suggest another route of escape, there was a soft clinking sound from behind them. They turned around, Kyo quickly, Hatori reluctantly, and saw him.

Akito.


	18. Erased

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Eighteen: Erased**

Akito smiled, mocking them. He gestured down to the ground, where he'd dropped the key they needed to escape.

"There it is," he stated. "Come and get it."

Kyo, not at all remembering Akito or who he was due to the lack of conversation about him at home, lunged forward for the key.

"Kyo," Hatori hissed in warning.

The cat was almost at the key—when Akito shifted his leg slightly, covering the liberating object with his foot.

Smirking, Akito ignored Kyo (who was clawing at his leg) and said, "I was wondering when you'd come back, Hatori. I knew you'd come for Yuki." He leaned his head forward, commenting in a deceptively affectionate tone, "Yun is very cute when he's asleep, eh?"

Hatori protectively held Yuki closer, saying coldly, "As far as I'm concerned, you have no right to call him 'Yun' _or_ 'cute', Akito-san."

"As far as _I'm_ concerned, you can keep your concerns to yourself," Akito glared. "And get this disgusting fleabag away from me." He kicked Kyo back to Hatori's feet.

"Hey, who do you think you are, anyway?" Kyo, jumping to his feet, growled at Akito. "Gimme that key, -CENSORED- it!"

"Kyo," Hatori said quickly, "stay back." He instinctively stepped slightly in front of Kyo. "This is Akito. The head of the Sohma family."

"That miserable little pip-squeak is the head of our family?" gawked Kyo. "Geez, no wonder we're such a mess…"

Akito scowled. "I've had just about enough of you, cat!" He suddenly smiled, wickedly. "Hatori, we used to be good friends, eh? I remember a little magic trick of yours… why don't we have a little fun with it?"

"I'm not your slave Akito-san," Hatori shook his head.

"You'll do as I say, or I'll make sure the three of you regret ever being born," snapped Akito. With a creepily pleasant smile, he continued. "If you do what I ask you, I'll let you all go… for now… to go on with your lives. I'm making a big sacrifice, Hatori—I'm temporarily giving up quite a few of my little zodiac toys, just for a little fun."

"'Quite a few'?"

"You three, Shigure, Hatsuharu, and Momiji." He smiled. "See how generous I am? So, do we have a deal?"

"What's the deal?" Hatori asked reluctantly.

"Hm…" Akito pretended to think, slowly rubbing the palms of his hands against each other. "Well, since you asked, I was just thinking that you could maybe erase the cat's memories…"

"WHAT?!" Kyo shouted.

Yuki stirred and woke up, startled by Kyo's sudden outburst. He looked around, surprised to find Hatori carrying him, holding him tightly as if the dragon was afraid that the rat would disappear.

Wait a minute—did he just think 'afraid' and 'Hatori' in the same sentence? Something was wrong… and there was Akito, grinning evilly, to confirm that.

Hatori glanced at Yuki, who was confusedly gazing about, and Kyo, who now seemed frozen in place after his outburst.

"I can't do that," Hatori whispered hoarsely.

Akito sighed and shook his head. "Now, Hatori, _I_ honestly don't mind your saying 'no', but think of your cousins. I'm sure they'd enjoy being able to live an _entire year_ without my intruding. Besides, if you don't agree, you have no _idea_ what I have planned for you guys."

"Kyo…" Hatori murmured, looking at the orange-haired boy. It seemed that erasing the youth's memories was the only way to protect him and the others.

The dragon turned back to Akito. "Could I do it back at the apartment?"

"No. Now. Or there's no deal."

"You'll uphold your end of the bargain?" Hatori questioned warily. "You won't interfere with our lives for one whole year?"

Akito gave another long-suffering sigh. "No, I won't interfere with your lives for one whole year. _Now_ can you see how generous I am, sacrificing five of my zodiacs—six if you count the cat—for such a long time? …Do we have a deal?"

Hatori stared at the ground and said quietly, "It's a deal, Akito-san."

The young head of the family smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. "Good. Now, erase the cat's memories. No cheating—_his entire memory_. Oh, such fun…"

Hatori carefully put Yuki down on the floor, propping the rat against the wall. Yuki, his mind exhausted and not quite able to register exactly what was happening, stared wide-eyed at Hatori.

"Kyo," Hatori said, gently pulling the cat to his knees, "this is for your own welfare."

"If you erase my memories," Kyo replied, quietly for once, "will everyone else be okay?"

Hatori nodded.

"It'll help you and Yuki and Haru, Momiji, and Shigure?"

"You, too," Hatori added. "It'll keep everyone safe for a year. It'll keep _you_ safe, Kyo."

"Oh, cut the small-talk and _do_ it," Akito demanded impatiently.

Kyo nodded and closed his eyes, waiting for Hatori to erase his memories.

"I'm sorry," whispered Hatori, putting one hand to Kyo's forehead and letting the other hand hold the boy's hands.

"Whatever," Kyo returned. "Just do it…"

There was a flash of light and the deed was done.


	19. Safe

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Nineteen: Safe**

Shigure, hearing the sound of the apartment door opening at about five in the morning, snapped his eyes open. _Ha'ri's back!_

Dying to know if the dragon had found Kyo and Yuki, Shigure leapt out of bed and sprinted into the main living area.

"You found them!" Shigure blurted out merrily.

"Shh," Hatori hushed with a tired glare. "Can't you see that they're sleeping?"

"Oh, right, right," Shigure whispered.

Noting that Hatori was having quite a time carrying both boys, Shigure decided to help. Seeing as Yuki was clinging to Hatori's shirt in his slumber, the dog decided that it would be much easier to just grab Kyo.

"Are our little cherubs alright?" Shigure asked. He thought that Yuki looked quite beaten, and Kyo rather pale.

"Other than the fact that Yuki doesn't trust me and Kyo's memory has been erased, yeah, they're fine."

"Say _what_?!"

"Shh!" Hatori hissed. "Would you rather have a dead Kyo or a memory-less Kyo? It was either this or having Yuki and Kyo in Akito's hands. I… I made a deal with Akito. I erased Kyo's memories, so now everyone who lives in this apartment is completely safe for one year."

Shigure looked down at the cat that he was holding and squeezed Kyo lightly, in something of a hug. "Ha'ri, I'll tuck them in. You just go straight to sleep—you can use my bed and I'll take the couch."

"No," Hatori shook his head. "I have to check and clean Yuki's wounds. By the time I'm finished that, it'll be time for everyone to get up. So I'll have to make breakfast and get the kids ready for school. You're going to your classes today, too."

"But—"

"No 'buts'. You're going."

"But I—"

"Yes, you _are so_ going."

"Ha'ri! Listen to me! It's Saturday—I don't have classes on Saturdays. _Nobody_ has classes on Saturdays."

"Oh," Hatori said quietly. Saturday already? That meant that he hadn't slept in… oh… say… about four days.

"Go on to bed, Tori," Shigure suggested. "I'll take care of everything."

"No," refused Hatori. "If Yuki needs bandages, you'll more than likely end up making him look like a mummy. You go ahead and tuck Kyo in. Let me know if he wakes up."

He turned and set Yuki down on the couch as Shigure let out a sigh. The dog then carried Kyo into the bedroom and settled him in his bed.

Glancing around to make sure that nobody was listening and that Kyo was still asleep, Shigure leaned down and whispered to the cat, "Thanks, kid." He gave him a brotherly (or, rather, cousinly) kiss on the forehead.

Shigure then heard a rustling sound from the other end of the room and, looking in that direction, noticed that Momiji had just sat up in his bed. Knowing that the bunny would probably start clapping and shouting that Kyo had returned, Shigure lunged over and clapped a hand over the nine-year-old's mouth.

"Shush!" Shigure hissed. "Don't wake everyone up!"

"M-m-MM! M-m-MM!" hummed Momiji happily through Shigure's hand. He bounced around slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Shigure whispered. "Yuki's back, too."

"Mm?"

"Yeah, for real."

"M-m-m-MM! M-m-m-MM!" Pausing for a moment, Momiji mumbled, "M-m-m-m-m?"

"Yeah, Ha'ri's here."

Momiji let out a little squeal.

"Sh! …You gonna be quiet now?"

The blond-haired boy nodded enthusiastically, so Shigure removed his hand and wiped it off on his pajama bottom. Next thing he knew, however…

"KYON IS BACK! YUN-YUN'S BACK! HA'RI'S BACK!!!"

Shigure slapped his hand back over Momiji's mouth, but too late—the damage had already been dealt, as was evidenced by Tohru leaping straight up into the air and Haru falling out of his bed with a loud crash. Kyo, fortunately, slept on. Hatori, unfortunately, heard the racket and came to investigate.

And a peeved, fatigued Hatori is more of a force to be reckoned with than usual.

"What are you…?" Hatori trailed off, looking first to Tohru (tangled up in her sheets and looking very confused) and then Haru (flat on his face on the floor). The dragon glared at Shigure before kneeling down to help Haru off his face.

"Not my fault," Shigure muttered immediately.

"Haru, are you alright?" asked Hatori, ignoring the dog.

The traumatized expression plastered to Haru's face was a clear reply.

"Here, get back in bed," Hatori told him, half-lifting Haru onto his mattress.

"Hatori-san?" Tohru whispered, still partially fallen over from her unexpected wake-up call. "You're back?"

Hatori nodded quietly, "Apparently." He normally would not have said that aloud but, as we have established quite plainly, Hatori was in desperate need of a good night's rest.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" she continued softly, righting herself and then clasping her hands together in delight. "Are Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun here, too? Are they alright?"

"Everything's going to be fine, Tohru-kun," Hatori assured her wearily. "Kyo's in bed, please don't disturb him. I have to go back to Yuki now. Shigure can explain it all to you later, once everyone is completely awake."

"Me?!" Shigure blurted.

"Shh, yes, you," Hatori replied, pulling the blankets up to partly cover Haru, who was now staring wide-eyed at the dragon.

"Why?"

"A, it's your punishment for not being able to keep everything quiet in here; B, because I'm going to be way too tired to speak anymore after I finish with Yuki. I'll take care of Kyo, though—I don't want you to explain things to him the wrong way and end up scarring him for life."

Business taken care of, Hatori turned around and all but stumbled from the room.

Shigure, following Hatori, began, "Ha'ri—hey, Yun—Ha'ri, I—"

"Shigure," Hatori sighed.

Hatori put a hand on the writer's back and guided him to one of the chairs at the dining table. He gently pushed Shigure into a chair while still standing up, himself.

"Allow me to enlighten you on a few matters. A, you are wasting your words on Yuki." Indicating the boy lying on the couch, he continued, "He's still asleep, no thanks to that riot you created.

"B, I know what you're going to say. I need sleep, right? I know that. And I am going to do so as soon as possible. The sooner, the better. And the more you help out, here, the sooner I can sleep, right? Are you still with me on this?"

Shigure nodded.

"Good. Now, you know what I want you to do?"

"Um… take care of the kids and let you know when Kyo wakes up?"

"Very good," Hatori confirmed. "I'm going to finish cleaning and bandaging Yuki right now. While I do that, you're going to…?"

"…Take care of the kids and let you know when Kyo wakes up."

Hatori nodded, slowly and deliberately. "Excellent, Shigure."

"Even if you're sleeping?"

"Hm?"

"Should I let you know when Kyo wakes up even if you're sleeping?" Shigure clarified.

"Yes. Now, you're going to…"

Standing up, Shigure repeated again, "Take care of the kids and let you know when Kyo wakes up."

"Good boy." Hatori patted Shigure on the back. "Now go to it."

Shigure nodded and headed back to the bedroom. Before entering the room, however, he paused for a moment and turned around. He commented, "You know, sometimes I get the feeling that you think of me as nothing more than another kid."

"You know, you are absolutely correct," Hatori replied, with an ever-so-slight smirk.

With another little nod, Shigure went into the bedroom.

As soon as the dog was out of earshot, Hatori muttered to himself, "I'm half dead and I'm _still_ in charge around here…"

-

Hatori carried Yuki, who was still sound asleep, into the bedroom. Most of the bandages were covered by his pajamas, and the only definite signs of injury were a long strip of bandage wrapped around his forehead and the slightly troubled expression on his face.

"I'll tuck 'im in," Shigure whispered, holding out his arms. "Just go to sleep—use my bed. It's not like I'm gonna sleep anymore today, anyway."

"Thanks," Hatori grunted, handing the rat over to his cousin. "Remember to… wake me up… when Kyo wakes… up…" he spoke slowly, between yawns. He was almost at the bed when he collapsed.

Tohru, Haru, and Momiji were still awake, too excited by the others' return to go back to sleep. Tohru clapped a hand over her mouth as Hatori fell, Haru stared silently through wide eyes, and Momiji shrieked, "Ha'ri's dead!"

"Zip the lip or I'll do it for ya," Shigure glowered, quickly tucking Yuki under the covers of the mouse's bed before attending to Hatori.

"Come on," the dog said, pulling Hatori off the floor. "Off to Sleepyland. You remember that place, right? It's where overworking, obsessive peeps like _you_ go when you forget to rest for a few days."

Shigure looked to the three others in the room who were awake. He said, "Well, if you aren't gonna sleep anymore, what're you doing in a _bed_room? Grab some clothes and take showers. One at a time," he finished with a grin.

So the trio collected their outfits and left the room, Tohru blushing madly at Shigure's final comment. Haru had wanted to kick, punch, or otherwise injure Shigure on his way out, but didn't do so for fear that the dog would let Hatori clunk to the floor.

"Here we go," Shigure announced, mostly to himself, as he lay Hatori down on the mattress. "When you wake up, you're _my_ patient."

He snickered, somewhat evilly. This was going to be fun…

…Well, except for that part about Kyo having had his memories erased…

…And that Yuki was probably pretty weak and in need of attention…

…And that Hatori might need a while to completely recuperate…

…So where was the fun? This was going to be such a drag!

Shigure sighed. Fun? He thought not.


	20. Doctor Shigure?, Part One

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Twenty: Doctor Shigure?, Part One**

Shigure had just finished settling Hatori in his bed when he heard a soft yawn from another bed.

_Oh, great_, thought the dog. _Kyo's awake_.

He briefly considered awakening Hatori (the way he'd been supposed to), but immediately nixed the idea upon seeing the look of absolute exhaustion on the dragon's face.

'_I don't want you to explain things to him the wrong way and end up scarring him for life_,' Hatori had said. Well, the way Shigure had it figured, he just wouldn't explain things the wrong way, right?

Right.

If he was lucky, he might even be able to avoid the topic for several hours.

He sat down on the edge of Kyo's bed just in time to see the cat open his eyes slowly. After blinking and blankly glancing about, the general confusion began.

Eyes finally locking on Shigure, Kyo asked bluntly, "Who're you?"

"Ah, same old Kyon-Kyon," Shigure smiled. He fell off the edge of the bed when Kyo suddenly whacked him in the arm.

"Hey, what was that for?" protested Shigure, standing up. "You don't even know who I am, remember?"

Looking surprised himself, Kyo explained, "I dunno. I just didn't like it when you called me that name… dunno why… so. Who the -CENSORED- are you, anyway?"

"Shigure Sohma."

"Who's he?"

"Hatori Sohma."

"Him?"

"Yuki Sohma."

"Me?"

"Kyo Sohma."

"…_I'm_ related to _you_?"

"Is that a problem?" Shigure asked, donning an injured expression.

"Not sure… could be. I mean, if I'm related to you, that could mean that I inherited insane genes or something…"

_Genes?_ thought Shigure. _Whaddya know. Lost his memory, gained some brain._

"I'm insulted," Shigure announced.

"So…" Kyo drew out, looking pensive, "how come I can't remember anything?"

"It's a long, miserable story…"

"I have time."

"Not yet," Shigure said, shaking his head. "I hafta save some energy for Ha'ri and Yuki… and the other kids, too."

"How many kids do you have?" Kyo wondered, eyebrows elevating. "You don't look _that_ old."

"Three out of four of them are actually my cousins," laughed Shigure. "Yours, too. The other one is just hanging out here for a while."

"So I live with my three cousins? Are you my uncle or something? And that Hatori guy?"

"We're your cousins, too."

"Geez, how many cousins do I _have_?"

"More than you could ever imagine," Shigure deadpanned, just before breaking into a giggling fit.

"I think you're crazy. Is Hatori stable?"

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah. He's not nuts. But he's really tired, so you'd better not wake him up. Yun-Yun, either, or he'll probably try to kill you."

"Yun-Yun?"

"Yeah." Shigure pointed at Yuki. "Him. Remember?"

"Whatever. So." Kyo looked straight at Shigure. "I'm still waitin' for you to tell me why I don't remember anything."

"And I'm still saving energy for Ha'ri and the kids," retorted Shigure.

They continued talking for nearly an hour, until crashing noises and several shouts from the kitchen reached their ears.

"What's that?" Kyo demanded.

"I dunno," Shigure said, glancing nervously at the closed door of the bedroom. "I'll check—you stay here and be _really quiet_, okay?"

"Fine, whatever."

Shigure hopped up and hurried to the kitchen. Where he found complete and utter chaos.

The table was on its side, and various dishes were broken in several pieces, spread across the floor. One of those broken shards had apparently been stepped on by the barefooted Momiji, who was hopping around on one foot, shrieking loudly.

At the counter was Haru. Well, on the floor _next_ to the counter, at least. The boy had apparently been standing on the countertop in an attempt to retrieve something from a cabinet, but had been startled when the table fell over, thus slipping and falling to the floor.

Tohru was standing next to the open refrigerator door, looking generally panicky and shouting if everyone was okay, and that she was very sorry for whatever damage she may have dealt to anything.

After Momiji, still bouncing on one foot, hopped onto Haru's nose, the ox promptly lost control and turned Black. He leapt up and began trying to strangle Momiji, who put down his sore foot to regain some balance. This wound up with him screeching in pain as the shard of china dug deeper into the sole of his foot.

The bunny fell forward after this, bumping into Haru and sending both of them straight to the floor. Tohru started shouting louder and, upon noticing Shigure standing in the doorway and looking dizzy with shock, cried out in relief—Shigure would be able to clear things up, surely.

The dog emitted a wordless yelp, and this cry distracted Momiji and Haru, and both boys looked up.

"Gure-chan!" Momiji wailed. "My foot hurts!"

"My EVERYTHING hurts," Haru topped Momiji's comment. Rubbing his head, he wondered, "What happened?"

Shigure, mouth hanging open, managed to squeak, "I… don't know… Tohru-kun…?"

Tohru immediately launched into a frazzled explanation.

"After we took our showers we were kind of hungry so Haru-kun and Momiji-kun decided to make breakfast but I said that I could do it myself but they insisted that they help so we all came in here and Haru-kun was going to get come flour from the high cabinet while Momiji-kun set the table and I got the eggs but then Momiji-kun bumped into the table and—"

Momiji continued, jabbering, "And the table fell over and broke all the dishes I put on the table and made a big mess and that surprised Haru so much that he fell off the counter 'cause he was standing on the counter to get the flour and when Haru fell I was gonna check on him but I stepped on one of the broken dishes and it REALLY HURTS!"

Tohru concluded the story animatedly with, "A-and then Momiji started hopping around and he landed on Haru-kun's nose and Haru-kun got mad and—and I think you saw the rest. Are you alright, Momiji-kun, Haru-kun?"

"WAAAH!" Momiji burst out, sitting on the floor.

"I dink by dose is broken," Haru commented, mispronouncing 'think', 'my', and 'nose' due to the fact that his nose was clogged with blood. Not only had Momiji stomped on it, but having hit his nose earlier when he'd fallen out of bed certainly did not help matters. He had both hands cupped around the aforementioned nose.

Shigure began his attempt at speech. "Um, ah, this, I mean, it, well, hm, eh… heh…."

He stepped forward, carefully avoiding the broken china. "Lemme see your foot, Momiji."

The dog wanted to check Momiji first, because he knew that the bunny would keep crying until he was proclaimed healthy, while Haru would just sit quietly and stare more or less patiently until he was taken care of.

Momiji sniffled and extended his leg towards Shigure.

"Ow," Shigure commented, gently holding Momiji's foot. "That's gotta hurt, eh? Hm… what would Ha'ri do…?"

"Make it better!" Momiji stated simply. "Ha'ri'd make it better!"

"…Any suggestions as to _how_?"

Tohru said, "Um, I think you should probably take out the piece of china first… then maybe put on some disinfectant or… something… maybe…?"

"Ah… okay." Shigure took hold of the broken shard and—

"OW!" Momiji howled in protest. "That hurts!"

"It won't when it's out!" Shigure shot back. He once again took the broken piece in his hand.

"OWIE!" yelled Momiji. "Get it out!" he wailed. "It hurts!"

"Well, how can I take it out if you won't let me _touch_ it?!" demanded Shigure.

"I dunno! But it hurts, it hurts, it—"

"It's out," Shigure proclaimed, holding up the somewhat bloodied piece.

"How'd you do that?" Momiji wondered.

"I took it out when you were screaming in agony about how much it hurt," smirked Shigure. "Stay here while I get some disinfectant cream and bandages."

As Shigure left the room, Haru called after him, "An' don' forged aboud by dose."

"I won't," came Shigure's reply.

"I-I'll start cleaning up," Tohru decided. She found a broom and dustpan before setting to sweeping away the mess that was the broken dishes.

Shigure returned and, through many "ow"s and sniffles, managed to sanitize and bandage Momiji's foot.

"There, all better," Shigure declared. "Go wait in the dining room. _I'll_ get breakfast after I take a look at Haru's nose."

"Okee-dokee," Momiji giggled, limping merrily to the living/dining room.

"I finished cleaning up the mess, Shigure-san," Tohru announced, just after she righted the table. "Is there anything else I can do? I can make breakfast."

"Nah… I don't think so," Shigure replied, shaking his head.

"Okay, then. I'll go wait with Momiji." She bowed quickly and scurried out of the room.

"Alright, Haru, let's have a look-see," said Shigure, shuffling over on his knees to Haru, who was still sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Haru moved his hands out of Shigure's way, so the dog could take a look at his nose.

"Ewww, Haru, that looks disgusting!" Shigure cringed.

"Well, den," Haru smiled sweetly, gingerly wiping some blood away from his upper lip, "_you_ will just have to fix it, won't you?"

The dog sighed. This was going to be a very long day.


	21. The Cat and the Rat

**Special Note:** Yes! I've finally finished another chapter! ...Okay... so it's really short... and it isn't even that good... but... I UPDATED, DIDN'T I?! Anyway, we hope you like it. Upcoming chapters will hopefully be longer and more humorous-dramatic, 'cause that _is_ what it's supposed to be, after all.

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Twenty-One: The Cat and the Rat**

Kyo looked after Shigure as the dog rushed out of the room. He then heard a soft noise, kind of like bed-sheets rustling, and turned his head to look at the spot where the sound had come from.

_Who… oh. Right. "Yuki"._

"Clumsy?" Kyo asked the rat.

Yuki blinked before shifting his eyes over to glance in the other boy's direction.

"That bandage on your head," clarified Kyo. "Fell and hit it or something?"

"Something," Yuki decided.

"I'm Kyo."

"I know that."

"Oh. Yeah, we _do_ live together, so I guess you _would_ know that…"

Yuki rubbed his head curiously, trying to recall what had happened last night.

Akito—Kyo—safety for a—Hatori—memory—zodiac toys—sorry—cat—erased…

The blurry memories zipped by so fast that Yuki honestly couldn't remember precisely what had happened beyond when he'd fallen asleep while Hatori carried him. He decided to ask Kyo.

"How come you're…? Why did you introduce yourself?" Yuki finally asked.

"'Cause I lost my memory. That weirdo Shigure person wouldn't tell me how."

The rat gingerly put together a few recollections. Kyo—memory—erased. Yuki sent a glare at Hatori that was so fierce that, if the dragon had been awake to see it, it would have been quite possible that he would have cringed.

Great. Not only could he not trust Hatori anymore, but his good friend Kyo was also no longer available to confide in. Well, then, he'd just have to suck it up.

"Then I'm Yuki," he introduced himself crisply.

"Yeah, I know, Shigure told me." Kyo observed Yuki, who had switched his gaze to stare coldly at the floor. "I guess we're not on the best of terms, huh?"

"We got along fine before…"

"Before I lost my memory?"

"Yes."

"How'd I lose it, anyway?"

Yuki used a hand to briefly gesture in Hatori's direction. "Ask _him_. But don't trust him. That would be the greatest mistake of…." He trailed off. _Shut up! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Kyo doesn't even remember you—don't go bawling to _him_ about it!_

Kyo briefly wondered what his cousin had been about to say, but dismissed it quickly, deciding that perhaps a minor bit of insanity ran in the family.

Yuki, meanwhile, had rapidly rammed both hands under his blankets so that Kyo couldn't see them clench tightly as he frantically tried not to cry.

If it hadn't been for Hatori, Akito wouldn't have taken Yuki back to the Main House.

If it hadn't been for Hatori, Kyo would still have his memory.

If it hadn't been for Hatori, Yuki would still have his best friend.

If it hadn't been for Hatori—

"You okay?" Kyo finally blurted out.

The rat's head snapped up and he stared blankly at Kyo for a moment. "Oh. Yes. Fine."

Deciding that he'd rather go and take a shower than stay in the same room as Hatori for any longer, Yuki picked out some clothes and silently left the room.

Once the _nezumi_ was out of sight, Kyo turned his head to face the still-slumbering Hatori. "Guess it's just you and me then, eh?"

Guess again, my dear little _neko_.

_WAM_

Kyo jumped up and fell out of bed when a purple- and yellow-haired creature flew through the door and crashed into a dresser. The thing let out a couple of pained yelps, which awakened Hatori and made the medical student sit bolt-upright.

The cat looked up as another shout came from the kitchen. This one, too, was very much pain-ridden, but also rather distraught. It sounded like that nutcase Shigure, come to think of it, and was actually a word:

"Why-y-yyyyyyy?!"


	22. Doctor Shigure?, Part Two

**Special Note:** Yes! An update! I did it! Yay!

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Twenty-Two: Doctor Shigure?, Part Two**

"Momiji—off—!" Yuki half-pleaded, half-ordered.

"Ow…" Momiji mumbled.

"_You're_ saying 'ow'?"

"Oh, did I hurt you? I was just really happy to see you awake…"

Kyo, hauling himself into a standing position, glanced curiously at Hatori, who was lying back down and closing his eyes. Wasn't the dragon going to help?

Shigure came rushing back into the room then, Tohru waiting anxiously at the bedroom door, and quickly hushed the rabbit and rat.

"Don't wake up Hatori!" Shigure shushed.

"Too late."

The dog jumped and whirled around at the sound of Hatori's voice.

"Ha'ri! Good morning, nothin' to see here, go back to sleep!"

"That's enough out of you," decided the dragon. "Go stand in a corner."

"…Why?"

"So that you won't get in my way. Yuki, Momiji, are you alright?"

"Fine," Yuki muttered, getting up and leaving the room.

"I'm not! Look!" Momiji sat up and held up his injured foot for Hatori to see.

Hatori got out of bed and squatted in front of the bunny. "What happened here?"

"I stepped on a broken cup! And it hurt really bad!"

"'Badly', not 'bad'. Did you bandage it yourself?"

"I did," Shigure piped up.

"Remind me to give you a lesson in first aid. Or maybe even fourth or fifth aid. Anything would be an improvement." He glanced at the incompetence that was his writing cousin. "The corner."

"Wha—oh. You meant it?" Shigure answered his own question with, "Of course you meant it. You don't joke. …But… the corner…? Ha'ri, you're so meeeeeeeeeeeeaaaan!" Hatori glared at him, and Shigure went to stand in a corner of the room.

Haru stepped into the room then, asking what the heck had happened.

Hatori answered. "Momiji was a bit overenthusiastic about seeing Yuki again, so he tackled him. Shigure was being himself, so I sent him to stand in the corner. What happened to your nose?"

"Dis? Oh, nuttin'. Don' mind me. I'll just stan' 'ere and bleed to death."

"Momiji, Haru, come with me." Hatori stood, holding Momiji's hand. He hesitated upon hearing the shower running. "Who's in the bathroom?"

"The only person not in this room," Shigure supplied from his corner.

"Thank you, Mr. I-am-left-alone-for-all-of-five-minutes-and-the-whole-house-runs-amok."

"Shall I take that comment as a hint that you want me to shut up?"

"Permanently, if you don't mind. We'll clean up your nose in the kitchen, Haru, and then we'll get everything bandaged or re-bandaged once Yuki's finished in the bathroom." Hatori looked at Kyo. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," shrugged Kyo. "I have a headache, but it's not that bad, I guess."

"Do you think you're up to coming with us to the kitchen? I want to talk to you."

The cat shrugged again and followed the three other zodiacs into the kitchen.

"Ha'ri, can I leave the corner now?" Shigure asked.

…

"Ha'ri?"

"Hatori-san has left the room, Shigure-san," Tohru informed him.

"Oh, good. Then I don't have to stand here anymore."

Just as Shigure stepped away from the wall, however…

"Leave that corner and you're puppy chow," Hatori's voice stated from the kitchen.

Shigure returned to his corner.

-

In the kitchen, Momiji and Kyo were standing near the table while Haru was sitting on the counter. Hatori took a clean cloth and wet it before going over to the ox to tend to his injury.

"So," Hatori cleaned Haru's nose while speaking to Kyo. "Tell me about yourself."

"My name is Kyo Sohma. I live here. Don't you know?"

"Yes… did you remember all that?"

"That lunatic back in the bedroom told me."

"You mean Shigure, of course."

"Duh."

"Whad's goin' on?" Haru piped up.

"Yeah!" Momiji put in his two cents.

"You, keep your mouth shut," Hatori lightly scolded the ox. "Or I might accidentally ram this down your throat," he added, brandishing the damp cloth he was using to wipe Haru's injured nose.

"If Momiji doesn't keep _'is_ mout' shut," Haru said quickly, "will you ram id down _'is_ throat?"

"Wah!" the blonde shrieked. "Haru is picking on me!"

"Shut up!" Kyo scowled, glaring. He muttered, "What a brat…"

"WAH! Ha'ri! Kyo's picking on me!"

"SHUT UP!"

"All of you, be quiet," Hatori ordered. "I have some news for you."

"Whad?" asked Haru.

"Didn't I tell you not to open your mouth?" Hatori asked back.

"What! What!" Momiji exclaimed gleefully.

"Shh." The dragon paused. "…Kyo's lost his memory."

"He _did_?!" yelled the rabbit.

"Whad? How?" Haru demanded.

"Yeah, how?" Kyo wanted to know.

"I erased it," Hatori stated, bracing himself for the explosion that was certain to follow. Sure enough…

"You DID?!"

"Whad?! Why?!"

"…You can _do_ that?"

"Yes, because it was either his memory or all of our lives, yes," Hatori answered their questions.

"Poor Kyo-kuuuuun!!" Momiji wailed, glomping Kyo.

"Hey! Get off me!" Kyo shouted in return.

"Hey," Haru suddenly realized. "If he doesn't remember anyt'in', den he doesn't know aboud da curse, does he?"

"Clogging again," Hatori mumbled to himself, quickly beginning to clean Haru's nose again.

"Curse?" Kyo asked, finally managing to pry himself out from Momiji's death grip.

"Yes," Hatori nodded. "I'll explain later, when Tohru-kun isn't around. Until then, just don't hug any girls, okay?"

"…And I'd want to do that… _why_?"

"Just try not to bump into any females, alright?"

Kyo shrugged. "I never try to bump into _any_one. …Do I?"

"No."

"Then what's your problem?"

"Not just _his_," Momiji supplied. "Yours, too. And mine. And Haru's. And Yun-Yun's. And—"

"I get it, already! It's _everyone's_ problem."

"Except for Tohru's," Hatori commented.

"Tohru's that girl that's staying with us, right? That's what the nutcase—pardon me—_Shigure_ said."

"Yes," confirmed Hatori. He stepped back from Haru. "Well, I've got some more news for you, Haru."

"Bedder or worse dan de erasin'?" Haru asked.

"Let's just say that your nose is probably broken, alright?"

"Dat stinks."

"It's better than getting your memory erased!" Kyo glowered. "Now _that's_ something that can really get on your nerves!"

"Which reminds me." Haru suddenly reached out and grabbed Hatori by the collar with one hand. "_You_ are really getting on _my_ nerves."

The Black hath descended.


	23. Black is Back

**Summary:** Three teenaged Sohmas take it upon themselves to assist their younger cousins. I guess it's somewhat of an AU.

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**PLEASE READ!!! Note, 3:** I'm _reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllyyyyyyy_ sorry that this took so long! I just took on too many stories to write at once, and I didn't have any ideas, and this took about fifteen minutes to slap together so I'm really sorry if there are a bunch of grammar mistakes or misspellings but I just wanted to post it really fast so I didn't proofread and I hope it isn't too bad and... I'M SO SORRY!!! I'M A WASTE OF SPACE!! AND NOW I'M JUST WASTING MORE OF YOUR TIME BY RAMBLING! I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (runs away screaming like Ritsu, who will show up eventually but not if I don't get typing so I gotta get started on that but... AGH! I'm rambling again! I'M SORRY!!!)

**Verisimilitude**

**Twenty-Three: Black is Back**

"Calm down, Haru," Hatori said.

"'Calm down'?" echoed Black Haru. He lashed out, punching the dragon square in the jaw. "De stupid cat's memory has been erased. By dose is broken. '_Calm down_'?"

As you can imagine, Kyo was very confused and amazed by the sudden change in the ox. He muttered, "What the…?"

"C'mon, Kyo-kun!" Momiji cried, grabbing the cat's hand. "We hafta go get Shigure!"

"Why? He'll make everything worse."

"Well, if we don't get out anyway, Haru'll start beating _us_ up, too!"

"Why?" Kyo turned to Haru. "What's your problem?"

Hatori sat up from his position on the floor and, rubbing his sore jaw, told Kyo, "Go with Momiji. Everything's okay."

"It _is_? Then how come he just punched you out?"

"He didn't punch me out…"

"But I will," Black Haru interjected darkly, attacking Hatori relentlessly.

Momiji then proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs, "SHIGURE!!!"

There were several loud crashes from both the kitchen and the bedroom before an incredibly frazzled Shigure rapidly managed to stumble into the kitchen.

"Haru! Stop that!" Shigure yelped, reaching forward to pry the infuriated ox off of the dragon. The dog immediately withdrew when Haru glared at him…

Scratch that. What I meant to say was that Shigure was sent flying when Hatsuharu delivered a wild punch to the dog's stomach. Yes, good old 'Gure even made a slight indentation in the ceiling. The landlord was not going to like that.

Tohru, who'd followed Shigure to the kitchen, was standing in the doorway. At least she was until Shigure flew above her head. Then she hit the deck with a loud squeal of surprise.

"What's wrong with Haru-san?" the onigiri asked breathlessly.

Shigure looked up dazedly from his position on the floor and, holding up a finger, said, "Would you believe… a temper tantrum?"

"I-I thought that H-Haru-san didn't seem the type to throw tantrums…"

"Think again," Kyo muttered. He stepped over Tohru and, returning to the bedroom, mumbled under his breath, "I'm surrounded by lunatics."

Finger still piercing the air, Shigure proclaimed, "But, seeing as you're related to us, that would make you partially bananas, too, right?"

"Shut up! Before I decide to stuff your bananas down your throat!"

"Well put, Kyon-Kyon!" applauded Shigure, sitting up carefully.

Fortunately for the dog, Kyo decided to ignore that. Fortunately for the rest of the world, Yuki had finished his shower by this time and was not happy with all the noise that Black Haru and Hatori were making. Wanting things nice and quiet so that he could mope in peace, the rat walked past Tohru, who'd since stood up, and made his way to the kitchen.

"Hello, Yuki-kun!" Tohru greeted anxiously. She was ignored, for Yuki had instead chosen to expend his energy on the ox.

"Shut up," muttered Yuki, clonking Black Haru on the head with a clenched fist. Without waiting to find if his blow had succeeded in its task, the rat turned and went to sit on the couch.

The ox knelt down, rubbing his forehead and wondering aloud, "Whad habbened?"

Tohru blinked in confusion, and Momiji stated, "You beat up Hatori!"

Haru looked at the dragon, who was just getting to his feet and brushing himself off. "Sorry…"

"It's not your fault," the future doctor told him, offering a hand up. "Shigure," he called.

"Yeah, Ha'ri?"

"You're taking Haru to the hospital. Now."

Shigure nodded. "Maybe they can treat _me_, too, while we're there."

"What's the matter with _you_?"

"Well, Haru _did_ belt me pretty hard…"

"You're fine. Just go." Hatori prepared and then handed a damp cloth over to Haru. "Hold onto this and use it on your nose if you have to."

The dog sighed. "Alright. C'mon, Haru." Over his shoulder, he added, "I'll bring you back about fifty bottles of aspirin."

"See you guys lader," Haru said, not looking back as he and his older cousin left.

-

Since Shigure didn't know how to drive, and the hospital wasn't that far away, the two zodiacs agreed that they would walk the short distance there. Haru kept his nose covered with the cloth most of the time, and soon they had just one more street to cross before they reached the medical building.

"And I'm _nod_ holding your hand dis time," refused Haru, glaring half-threateningly at the canine.

"Aww, Haru, don'tcha want me to feel all secure?"

"I don' really care," he mumbled, stalking a few feet ahead of Shigure.

"Okay, but I'm not gonna tell you about that open manhole that you're headed for, then," called Shigure. He paused. "Haru, slow down!"

Haru apparently didn't hear him, because he kept walking straight on—and fell into the sewer below.

"Haru!"


	24. Progress

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Twenty-Four: Progress**

"Haru!"

Melting into a general freak-out session, Shigure dropped to his knees in front of the manhole and stuck his head down, trying to see into the sewer. Only a bit of the morning sunlight made it down the hole, creating a great difficulty in making out anything.

I'm certain that, those of you who aren't worried sick over the poor ox, are concerned about the dog and the fact that he is on his knees in the middle of a street. Well, we'll call him lucky, as this is a side street that only leads to a dead-end alley, thus making it the complete opposite of busy. This is why he has not been run over, and shame on you for not being worried sick about Haru!

Shigure used both hands to grab onto either side of the manhole and continued shouting.

"Haru! Oh, man, I shoulda grabbed you!"

"You _bed_ you shoulda!"

A mixture of relief and surprise made the writer lose his grip on the edges of the hole. "Haru! You're alive! You're ali—AIIIEEEEEEEEEE!"

The canine has fallen.

_BAM!_

The canine has landed.

On the ungulate.

"Ow."

"Yeah, that hurt, but… you're alive! You're alive!"

"Yeah… bud _you_ won' be if you don' get offa me."

Shigure jumped up. "Sorry! Boy, I'm so glad to see—well, I _would_ be if I could see…"

"I think you broke by dose again," Haru commented, also standing.

"Hold the cloth to your nose," advised his cousin.

"Whad cloth? Ohhh, you must mean de one _drenched in sewage_."

"Oh… heh-heh… then I guess you _shouldn't_ hold it to your nose."

"No kiddin'," Haru muttered, accidentally-on-purpose flinging the cloth away—right into Shigure's face.

"Ewwwww…"

"Sorry. Guess I shoulda grabbed it," Haru mocked, only _slightly_ spiteful.

Peeling the scrap of offensive cloth off his face, Shigure decided, "I… might've deserved that."

"Dat and den some. Can we jus' get oudda 'ere now?"

"Sure." Shigure jumped a few times, trying to reach the edge of the manhole opening. It was obvious, though that the dog could never possibly reach his goal lest he sprouted wings, as the exit was just about half a dozen feet too high.

Haru, still understandably annoyed, leaned back against the wall of the sewer and decided not to inform his cousin that the ox just happened to be standing next to a series of metal rungs in the wall, which served as a ladder and would easily assist them in escaping.

After taking about fifteen minutes to continue being amused by Shigure's desperate antics, the boy finally grew bored of this activity and whistled. Shigure stopped and glanced in Haru's direction.

"What?"

"Why don' we jus' climb oud?"

"How?"

"I'm standin' next to a ladder."

"…And why didn't you tell me that before I started screaming and jumping around like the maniac I'm not?"

"'Cause I was still TO'd. An' you _are_ a maniac, by de way."

The dog grumbled a bit about respect and elders, but trudged over to Haru, felt around a bit, and finally grabbed onto one of the rungs. He started climbing and almost made it out.

Almost.

_BONG!_

Someone put the cover on the manhole just as Shigure's head reached the top, bonking him on the head and making him fall again. Fortunately for Haru, though, the writer landed in the sewage, not on him.

"Before we were stuck in a dimly lit sewer. Now we're stuck in a pitch-black sewer. _Thad's_ progress," commented Haru. "You okay?" … "You okay? Hello?"

Shigure still didn't reply.

"And now I'm stuck in a pitch-black sewer wid an unconscious nut," Haru summarized to himself. "Yup. Progress."


	25. Rat!

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Twenty-Five: Rat!**

"Shigure," Haru called yet again. It had been… maybe fifteen minutes, and the dog had yet to move. "Shigure." Getting a sudden hunch about something, he said, "Shigure, if you're fakin' it jus' to bug me, I'm gonna punch you so hard dat you'll fly up through de manhole cover and land at de top of Tokyo Tower."

"Aww, you're no fun!" came the whiny reply. "I—oops, shouldn't'a said anything!"

The ox growled quietly.

"Um—ah—uh—well, at least you can't see me…"

"I'll _FIND_ you, -CENSORED-!"

"Ah! Haru! I can't see you, either, but that sure doesn't _sound_ good! Calm down! Please!"

You guessed it. Gone Black, for the second time that day.

…Then again, who wouldn't? It can't possibly be fun being stuck in a sewer with Shigure. And Shigure was about to find that out.

-

"Hatori! Hatori! Hatori!"

The dragon looked up as the bunny continued cheerfully banging on and yelling through the door. He was in the kitchen with Yuki, checking the rat's injuries and applying disinfectant, and had closed the door in the hope that Kyo, Momiji, and Tohru would keep quiet and not disturb them.

So much for hoping.

"What is it?" Hatori asked with his infinite supply of patience.

"Can Kyo-chan and Tohru-chan and me go to the park?"

"That's '_I_', not '_me_'. And no, you can't."

"Awww… why?"

"A, I hardly ever let you kids go anywhere alone. B, this has been a pretty hectic day so far and I'd probably have a nervous breakdown if I had to worry about you running wild."

"Then can we play a game?"

"What sort of a game?"

"Well," Momiji began, "I was thinkin' how about maybe… _Monopoly_®?"

"Momiji, you don't have to request permission to play _Monopoly_®. _Twister_®, yes. _Monopoly_®, no."

"Why do we have to ask if we can play _Twister_®?"

"You don't remember?"

Momiji hesitated. "Oh, yeah! Once Yun-Yun accidentally stuck his foot in my mouth! 'Member that, Yu-chan?"

"I try not to," stated Yuki coldly.

"Me, too. Feet taste weird. So we can play _Monopoly_®?"

"Of course," Hatori nodded.

"Yay! Do you and Yun-Yun wanna play, too?"

"I'm not going to, but Yuki might. We're almost finished in here."

"No thank you," was Yuki's response.

"Awww… well, let us know if you change your minds! KYON-KYON! TOHRU-CHAN! WE CAN PLAY _MONOPOLY_®!!" And with that, Momiji scampered off to dig the board game out of the closet.

-

Let's cut back to the sewer, where Haru and Shigure are having a whole lot less fun than the others will be having with their game.

"Sorry for beatin' you up so bad," Haru commented mildly, as the cousins leaned back against the sewer wall. "Not dat you didn' deserve it."

"Well, now isn't the best time to dwell on the past, I guess," Shigure sighed, rubbing his sore ribcage. "I suppose we—that is to say, the walking wounded—should try to find another way out."

"We can jus' climb up and push off de manhole cover," suggested the ox.

"No way am I going back up there! _You_ try it. At least _you_ don't have a broken arm!"

"I _said_ sorry."

"But you didn't mean it," insisted Shigure. "Now go climb outta here."

"Can't. Sprained my ankle while I was beatin' you up. And my knuckles hurt, too."

"Not as much as my stomach! …And a coupla other places I won't mention…"

"Guess we jus' hafta shout really loud an' hope someone hears us," Haru concluded.

"Okay. HEL-LOOO—oww!"

"Whad now?" sighed Haru.

The dog explained, "Shouting hurts my ribs…"

"Fine, den. _I'll_ shout. …FIRE! MURDER! DROWNIN' PEOPLE! FI—!!"

"What are you _doing_?"

"Gettin' attention. Fires, murders, and drownin' people always get attention."

"Oh. Okay."

"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE! MURDER!!"

"Shout, 'I see Elvis!' _That'll_ get attention."

"_Everybody_ says dey've seen Elvis. Or at least 'is ghost."

"'I see Superman', then."

…

"'Rat'? Nobody likes rats. They could send an exterminator down for us."

"Yuki'd kill you if he heard dat."

"Well, Yuki ain't here. Just try _one_ of 'em!"

"Fine. FIRE! MURDER! DROWNIN' PEOPLE! _RAT_!!"

The manhole cover was suddenly removed and someone called, "We'll send an exterminator right down!"

Shigure smirked, "Told ya it'd work."

* * *

**_Anonymous Review Reply_:**

**laila** - This is Haru. Even though you think having a broken nose and being stuck in a sewer with Shigure is funny, thanks for the review. We're glad you like it.


	26. Worst Day of My Life

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Twenty-Six: Worst Day of My Life**

"Momiji-kun!" Tohru wailed. "Spit it out! Spit it out!"

Kyo repeatedly slapped the rabbit-cursed on the back, yelling in agreement, "SPIT IT OUT!!"

Yuki, who'd been sitting on the couch and dully ignoring the rowdy game of Monopoly® until now, turned around and blinked upon noticing the scene before him.

"Spit it out! Ah! Please! HATORI-SAN!" cried Tohru, horrified upon seeing Momiji's face turn an unnatural purplish hue.

"SPIT IT OUT!" Kyo shouted again.

The dragon, who'd been napping peacefully for all of ten minutes after taking at least three hours to actually fall asleep, stumbled into the room and, realizing what was going on, called for Tohru and Kyo to step away. Hatori grabbed Momiji around the waist from behind and squeezed, making the half-German boy spew out a small metal piece.

Tohru, who'd been waving her arms about wildly in terror, now collapsed to the ground in relief. Lifting her face, she sighed gratefully.

"You'll be alright," announced Hatori, now fully awake again.

"Good," Kyo commented. He then masked his relief by hollering at Momiji, "What'd ya do THAT for?!"

"Do what?" Momiji wondered, half-dazedly as Hatori released him.

"PUT A MONOPOLY® PIECE IN YOUR MOUTH!!!"

"Quiet down, Kyo-kun," Hatori ordered firmly. He asked in a much quieter voice, "Momiji-kun, why _did_ you put a Monopoly® piece in your mouth?"

The blonde began to speak, but was interrupted when the door slammed open and Haru—sporting bandages on his nose and across his knuckles and a cast on his right ankle—limped in on a pair of crutches. Shigure—left arm in a sling, face bruised and with several bandages on it, and walking stiffly with his good arm wrapped protectively around his ribs—followed.

"_This_ is officially de _worst_ day of my _life_," proclaimed the ox-cursed in all solemnity.

"Here, here," Shigure agreed, kicking the door shut loudly.

"What—no," Hatori cut himself off. He slumped decisively onto a chair next to the dining table. "I do _not_ want to know." With a sigh, he reluctantly said a moment later, "But I suppose I _have_ to. What happened _now_?"

Shigure did not hesitate in stating, "We fell down a sewer!"

"You… fell down a _sewer_." After echoing the bold statement, Hatori slouched further down in his chair, thereby breaking his own rule of sitting upright.

"Yeah," Haru agreed. Glancing nonchalantly at his writing cousin, he suggested, "Why don't you tell them how it happened?"

"Now, now, Haru-kun, I'm sure Hatori has better things to do than listen to _that_…"

Suddenly quite interested, Hatori let one hand cover his forehead as he closed his eyes and replied, "Nonsense, Shigure. I always have time to listen. Whether I like it or not." He hesitated before adding, "Whether _you_ like it or not."

"Well…"

Realizing that this could take a while, Haru supplied carelessly, "I wasn't looking where I was going and Shigure didn't grab me before I fell through an open manhole. Then he panicked and fell down, too."

"Is this true, Shigure?" demanded Hatori, opening one eye to look at the dog-cursed.

"Well, I wasn't gonna put it _quite like that_, but if you want it said bluntly and tactlessly… yeah."

"Tohru-kun," Hatori began.

"Yes, Hatori-san?"

"Kindly lock away any and all pointy objects in the apartment."

"Um, of course, but… why?"

"Preservation of life and limb. Shigure's life and limb, to be specific."

"Did I mention dat, when he panicked and fell, he also happened to land on _me_?" Haru interjected.

…

"Tohru-kun, while you are locking up all pointy objects, please also put any and all blunt and heavy things with them," requested Hatori.

"WAH!" Momiji suddenly yelled, startling the others. "Poor Haru-chan! He was _smooshed_!"

"Thanks for de news flash," Haru said, carefully sitting down next to Yuki on the couch. "I wish you were dere to warn me just before it actu'lly _happened_."

A timid knock sounded on the door just then, and Hatori dragged himself over to answer it. He turned the knob and pulled, finding a young teenager in a white button-up shirt and brown slacks shyly standing there. It was apparently a girl, with shoulder-length hair, and Hatori seemed to know her.

"Ah. Ritsu-kun. What brings you here?"

"I-I'm sorry," murmured Ritsu, head still bowed meekly. "I just thought I'd visit while I was in the area but—I'M SORRY!" she suddenly yelled. "I HAVE INTERRUPTED YOUR PERFECT DAY BY BUTTING IN! OH, I'M SO INCONSIDERATE! I'm sorry—I'M SORRY! OH, AND I KNOCKED TOO LOUDLY! I'M SORRY FOR THAT, TOO!!"

Shigure snickered and the kids—excluding Yuki, who'd returned to his brooding—stared at Ritsu.

Hatori tiredly tried, "It's alright. You knocked just fine. Come in."

Quiet again, Ritsu flushed and entered the apartment. She began, "And now you're being so nice, too… I DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE YOU AS A COUSIN! I'M UNWORTHY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR BEING RELATED TO YOU!!!"

"Ritsu—"

As Ritsu continued screaming, Shigure muttered to himself, "I wonder…"

A moment later, Ritsu collapsed.


	27. Why Not!

**Disclaimer:** You think _I_ own _any_ of this? (dies laughing)

**Note, 1:** This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

**Note, 2:** I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

**Verisimilitude**

**Twenty-Seven: Why Not?!**

Giggling gleefully, Shigure exclaimed, "It still works!" He held up his right index finger triumphantly. "The Magic Touch strikes again!"

Glaring wearily at the dog, Hatori pulled Ritsu off the floor and set the fainted teenager on the couch next to Haru.

"What happened to Ritsu-chan?" Momiji wondered, standing behind the sofa and peeking over the back.

"Shigure happened," stated Hatori.

Ritsu started to come around just then.

"A-are you alright, Ritsu-san?" Tohru stammered.

"Yes… thank you for worrying about meeee—I DON'T DESERVE YOUR CONCERN!" screamed Ritsu. Miraculously managing to regain some semblance of control, she continued, "Actually, I didn't just come for a visit, I came—I LIED!! I TOLD YOU I CAME JUST TO VISIT BUT I _**LIED**_!!! OH, I AM SCUM! NO, WAIT! I'M NOT EVEN _THAT_ GOOD! I AM MICRO-SCUM!

"…Is there such a thing as micro-scum? OH, I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!! FORGIVE MEEEE!!!"

Hatori, just wanting peace and quiet for once in his incredibly noisy life, responded flatly, "Consider yourself forgiven."

…

"I DON'T _DESERVE_ TO BE FORGIVEN!! OH, I'M A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE PERSON!" She whirled around and grabbed Momiji by his shirt collar, shaking him. "_TERRIBLE_!!!"

"Wah!" cried Momiji, arms flailing in an attempt to free himself from his TERRIBLE cousin's grasp.

Ritsu promptly released the bunny, exclaiming, "And now I'm hurting you! Oh, no! I'm a MUGGER!! No… I didn't steal anything… ACK! I'M AN ASSAILANT!!"

"Ritsu!" Hatori intervened.

"Um… _hai_?"

"Just tell us why you came here."

"Ah… _gomen nasai_." Ritsu folded her hands in her lap and explained, "Ayame-sensei wanted to speak to you about seeing Yuki."

Now everybody in the room was stuck with the task of trying to stare at Ritsu, Yuki, and Hatori simultaneously. Well, not quite _everybody_. Kyo and Tohru had no clue as to who Ayame was, so Kyo didn't really care and Tohru was just wondering why this was such a big deal.

The dragon was quiet, which was a nice change from the screaming Ritsu. He finally said, "Do you know why Ayame wants to see him?"

"He said that he wants to strengthen their brotherly bonds…"

"_What_ brotherly bonds?" Hatori muttered. Sighing, he conceded, "I suppose he deserves a second chance. Yuki, do you want to meet your brother?"

Yuki's eyes flickered over to the medical student, or at least the medical student's ear. The rat refused to look directly into his eyes. Therefore, he said to the organ of hearing, "The brother I have next to no recollection of? Oh, certainly. I'll be trembling with anticipation."

Kyo took this opportunity to pipe up with, "I guess you and this Ayame guy aren't very close."

"What makes you think that? Why, we see each other every four years!" Yuki stood up and left the room, deciding that a nap seemed like a good idea.

Insert awkward silence here.

"We'll take that as a crystal clear 'yes'!" Shigure decided, suddenly and cheerfully. "Ritsu-kun, call Aya and tell him to drop by anytime! Phone's over there," he pointed to the telephone sitting on the side table next to the couch.

"Um… Hatori-san?" Ritsu looked for confirmation of the dog's order.

"Why not?" exclaimed Hatori, throwing his hands into the air. "We've got amnesiacs, perverts, split-personalities, energy balls—why not add an egomaniac?!"

Naturally, Ritsu felt the need to begin screaming again.

"I'M SORRY! I MADE YOU MAD! I don't deserve to breathe! I'M SORRY FOR BREATHING!!"

Hatori sank down into a random chair from the dining table, sighing, "Just call Ayame… please…"

"O-of course."

As Ritsu spoke with Ayame, who could be heard quite clearly by anyone within a hundred-mile radius of the Sohma apartment, Shigure took the opportunity to talk to the youngsters.

"Just ignore Ritsu when he screams," the writer began. "His shriek is worse than his shake!" he referred to the panicky incident in which Momiji had been caught.

"Whoa, hold it," Kyo cut in. The orange-top and Haru chorused, "_He_?"

"Yes… oh, didn't you realize? Tsk, you two can't even tell a boy from a girl! Where _has_ your education gone!"

"Down the sewer," growled the ox.

"Oh, must you bring up that _painful_ memory? Haru, you're so meeeeeeeeeeeeaaaan! …Wait. What am I _do_ing?!" Shigure sang, "A-ya!" and pounced on the phone, successfully horrifying Ritsu as he did so.

"Aya!" he continued into the device, paying no heed to the shocked visitor spread-eagle on the floor. "It's been too long since we last spoke!"

Tohru, meanwhile, decided to give a little TLC to poor Ritsu, gasping, "Are you okay?"

As she tried to help Ritsu to his feet, however, there was a slight problem. This problem involved Shigure's foot knocking into the back of Tohru's head, and Tohru falling onto Ritsu. Oh. It involved one more thing:

_POOF!_


	28. The Curse

**Disclaimer:** (checks inventory) Nope. No rights to Fruits Basket. (sniffle)

**Twenty-Eight: The Curse**

When the little clouds disappeared, Tohru exclaimed, "_Gomen_! I'm so sorry! I—R-Ritsu-san? _Ano_… why is there a monkey where Ritsu-sa—AH! I turned Ritsu-san into a monkey! I'm so sorry, Ritsu-san! Forgive me!"

And the onigiri began flapping her arms about wildly in a frantic gesture of apology.

"Uh…" Kyo managed, staring at the furry brown primate. "Huh?"

Shigure laughed nervously. "Well, Tori, looks like it's time to start erasing, _ne_?"

"No," Hatori shook his head. He stated, "I'm never going to do that again. We'll still be careful about keeping our secret but… if a trustworthy person finds out… we'll trust them."

"Yo!" exclaimed the cat-cursed. "The screamer just turned into a monkey! Anyone care to explain?!"

"Nope!" Shigure joked cheerfully.

"Go fall off a cliff," Hatori requested mildly, before added, "Ritsu-kun, I think you should leave the room before you change back."

"Yes! I'm sorry! I'll leave!" monkey-Ritsu shouted, scampering off through a door (the kitchen door) he picked at random.

"Wha-wha-wha…?" Tohru blubbered.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE -CENSORED- IS GOING ON?!!" Kyo bellowed.

"Tohru-kun, Kyo-kun," the dragon requested, "Please sit down."

Both children obeyed, one with numb anxiety, the other with grudging obedience, as Haru slid over to make more room for them on the couch.

And so Hatori explained about the curse, prompting Kyo to fall off the sofa once the speech was done and Tohru to leap up and exclaim, "That's wonderful!"

Everybody in the room stared at her.

"Um—ah—I mean, not wonderful that you're cursed—that's really, really terrible—but I mean… ah…" Tohru fumbled for words. "I-I'm just glad that it wasn't my fault that poor Ritsu-san—actually, it _was_ my fault since I fell on him…" she rambled.

Kyo looked around at everyone for a moment before finally shouting, "You're all nuts!" and bolting from the room.

As luck would have it, he also randomly selected the kitchen door as a method of escape. Just as he entered the galley, there was a loud poofing noise and Kyo immediately retreated, slamming the kitchen door behind him and making a break for another door.

This door led to the bedroom, where Yuki was still napping. Even Kyo's back-to-back door slamming didn't awaken the rat, so a desperate orange-top shook the other boy to consciousness, all the while yelling, "Get up! They're all loony!"

Eyes still half-closed, Yuki sat up drowsily and mumbled, "Who?"

"ALL of 'em! In the living room! That Ritsu guy or girl or whatever the -CENSORED- he is turned into a monkey and now they're yakking about this curse and they're nuts!"

"If you saw someone turn into a monkey," Yuki pointed out, "how can you be sure that _you_ aren't crazy, too?" He turned over and tried to go back to sleep.

"Because—" Kyo stopped short and blinked. He finally proclaimed, "Well, I dunno, but I'm not! Oi, are you listening to me?!"

A soft snore answered him.

"OI! Are you LISTENING to me?!" Kyo demanded loudly, shaking Yuki's elbow harshly but briefly.

An only slightly alarmed grunt came from the rat-cursed as the pale-skinned boy propped himself up on his elbows and sleepily glared at Kyo.

"Fine," he grumbled, wishing that the cat would just go away and leave him alone, for Pete's sake. "You aren't nuts, we are cursed, now scram."

"You—you're nuts, too!"

"Am not. Go hug Miss Honda and you'll believe me. Go away."

"Geez, if Hatori-san hadn't told me that you turned into the rat, I'd bet you turned into a _CRAB_!"

"Just leave already, _baka neko_."

"What'd you call me?" Kyo blinked, clueless.

"_Baka neko_. Can't you hear anymore?"

"But why are you calling me a cat—ohh, right." In a rather mocking tone of voice, the orange-top said, "I turn into the _neko_."

Yuki glared harder, waking up a bit more. "Don't make fun of the curse. It isn't funny. If you remembered—" the rat ended his sentence abruptly before continuing quietly but pointedly, "If you remembered, you would know that."

"Okay, let's just say for a minute that we _are_ cursed," Kyo suggested. "How do you think you'd go about breaking the curse?"

"_I_ wouldn't do _any_thing. As Hatori-san may have told you, our family has been cursed for generations. We don't know how or if it can ever be stopped."

"I don't get why it's such a curse," shrugged Kyo. "It sounds cool to be able to turn into an animal." He added hastily, "That is, if there really was a curse, but there isn't."

"There is a curse," Yuki stated, coldly and firmly. "And it isn't 'cool'. Use your brain for just a minute, _baka neko_. What do you suppose would happen if somebody was to find out about the zodiac curse? We're freaks. They'd be disgusted by us."

Kyo snorted and, referring to Tohru, jerked his thumb toward the living/dining room, saying, "_She_ wasn't."

Yuki raised a skeptical eyebrow before muttering, "She will when it all sinks in."

"Well, aren't _you_ Little Mister Sunshine."

"You're starting to sound like Shigure," yawned the nezumi.

"That crackpot?! No way! Hey, can I ask you something?"

"If you'll promise to shut up right after, go ahead."

"Okay," agreed Kyo. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!!"

"Hatori's a fink, my stupid brother wants to visit, you won't put away your mouth, and I'm cursed. There." And Yuki lay back down, pulling the blanket up over his head.

Kyo shrugged and wandered off to the other side of the room, muttering, "Guess I'd be crabby, too…." As he sat down on the edge of a bed (Shigure's), the proverbial light bulb flicked on above his head and he realized something.

Looking over to Yuki, the neko began, "Hey, according to you guys _I'm_ cursed, too. _And_ I've had my memory erased! So I think I have as much right to be as grouchy as you have!"

A soft moan and a muffled, "I thought you agreed to shut up," came from under Yuki's covers.

"Well, I guess I just changed my mind!"

Sitting upright on the mattress, the rat glared at his cousin.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful rivalry.


	29. Declaration of War

**Disclaimer and Apology:** First, the disclaimer—No, I don't own Fruits Basket.

Now, the apology—OH, I'M SO SORRY! FORGIVE MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! It's all my fault because I didn't have any good ideas and even when I got a half-way decent idea I didn't know how to type it out and even when I knew how to type it out I was too lazy to actually do it!!!! I'M SORRRYYYYYYY!!!!! (sends Ritsu back home)

**Verisimilitude**

**Twenty-Nine: Declaration of War**

Hatori and Shigure, the latter limping along with amazing speed, bolted into the bedroom and stared at the scene before them.

This scene, by the way, looked disturbingly similar to the battlefield model that Haru had once built to accompany his report on the Onin War. In other words, lots of blood, swords fallen on the ground, and a couple of warriors fighting viciously.

It was something of a relief to realize that the blood was actually red bed sheets, the swords were bedposts that had been ripped from the main frames, and the warriors were two ten-year-old kids. They _were_ fighting viciously, however, which made the relief short-lived.

Before, Hatori never would have thought they would ever do anything to harm each other. But now…

_Why couldn't _Akito_ have been cursed, too? Make it a little easier for the rest of us reasonably decent people to handle…_

"Hey! Wait!" the dog yelled at the boys; he slipped on one of the red sheets as he darted forward with the intention of pulling his cousins away from each other. He surprisingly didn't fall over, though, and continued his advance.

The medical student frowned—well, more than before—and folded his arms over his chest, commenting, "How you two got this much done in the two-point-eight seconds it took us to get in here is beyond me."

"Maybe the walls are soundproofed," suggested Kyo with a sneer, throwing another wild punch in Yuki's general direction.

Hatori said in a loud-but-not-quite-shouting voice, "Everybody _freeze_!"

Everybody froze. Of course they froze. After all, would _you_ want to face the Wrath of Hatori?

"I'M SORRY!" a wail came from the other room about three seconds later. "I MOVED!! I BREATHED! Oh, I'm SO SORRY! I'm UNWORTHY of FRESH AIR! Or even POLLUTED AIR! OR—!"

"_Not you_," the dragon informed Ritsu through gritted teeth.

"…Oh. I—I'm SORRY!! I MISUNDERSTOOD YOUR GOOD AND PERFECTLY CLEAR MEANING!!!"

Shigure, grinning eagerly, looked to Hatori and all but pleaded, "Want me to poke him in the side?"

"Leave him alone, Shigure," ordered Hatori firmly. "We have about _two_ problems here that we have to handle." He nodded his head at Yuki and Kyo.

"Aww—I mean—right!" Shigure turned to the cat and the rat, scolding fervently, "Shame on you two!"

Hatori stepped in then, saying, "For starters, apologize to each other."

Yuki folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head back slightly, glaring at the orange-top through lowered lashes. This expression clearly indicated that he expected Kyo's apology to come first.

Meanwhile, Kyo seemed to have steam pouring out of his ears as he glowered at the rat. A low, almost inhuman growl rumbled from the back of his throat. Apparently, the idea of saying he was sorry did not appeal to him in the least.

"Well?" demanded the dragon.

"My sentiments exactly," sniffed Yuki, still expectantly glowering at the cat.

"There's no way I'm apologizing to that—that -censored-… RAT!" Kyo exploded.

"Kyo…" Hatori scolded the profanity.

Ignoring his older cousin's comment, Yuki icily jibed, "How long did it take you to come up with _that_ one, _baka neko_?"

"C'mon, you guys," Shigure put in. "Apologize already so we can make you clean the room."

"YOU WISH!" Kyo refused to speak a single word of penitence.

Shigure was about to ask for an apology one more time, but Hatori said first, "Alright. You don't have to apologize."

The three others in the bedroom stared at him.

"But, Ha'ri—" Shigure began.

"No. Shigure, why don't you call out for something to eat? I'm sure everyone is starving half to death," suggested Hatori.

"B-b-bu…"

"Go."

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b…." And so Shigure, still sputtering out a pretty fair imitation of a damaged motorboat, slowly left the room.

"Now," Hatori began, facing the cat and the rat. "Here's the plan: We eat. You clean this room. Then we three will go for a little walk in the park. Until our walk, neither of you is to say a word. _Not a word_. Are we clear on that?"

"Whatev—" Kyo started, before clamping his mouth shut and nodding.

Hatori withdrew his patented Warning Glare of Death and nodded back. "Let's go to the living room." He started to turn around but then looked at the two boys again, ordering, "On second thought, you guys go ahead of me. I don't want anyone to be able to say, 'Oops, I tripped and my fist just happened to clonk my new archenemy on the head'."

Kyo sighed. Plan A was officially out the window. And he sincerely wished that Yuki would join it. Really fast. And really hard. And really, _really_ painfully.


End file.
